FIRST MAN ON THE MOON NEIL ARMSTRONG DIES AT 82

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died at 82.

Armstrong was part of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, and the first to step outside the lunar module onto the surface of the moon. He uttered the now iconic phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Armstrong was recovering from heart surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries before his death.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: "“That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." 

Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.

Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment.

He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.

"I guess we all like to be recognised not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" programme in 2005. He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said. 

Armstrong was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He served as a member of the National Commission on Space (1985-1986), as Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986), and as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971-1973).

Armstrong has been decorated by 17 countries. He is the recipient of many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; the Explorers Club Medal; the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy; the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the Harmon International Aviation Trophy; the Royal Geographic Society's Gold Medal; the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Gold Space Medal; the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award; the Robert J. Collier Trophy; the AIAA Astronautics Award; the Octave Chanute Award; and the John J. Montgomery Award.