Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on moon, dies at 82

Armstrong, the astronaut who marked an epochal achievement in exploration with “one small step” from the Apollo 11 lunar module on July 20, 1969, becoming the first person to walk on the moon, has died.

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1969

Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, became the first human to set foot on the moon.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Sept. 17, 1962

Neil Armstrong, one of the nine astronauts, is introduced to the press in Houston. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972.

/ AP

March 9, 1966

Astronaut Neil Armstrong during a suiting-up exercise at Cape Kennedy, Fla., in preparation for the Gemini 8 flight.

/ AP

Nov. 28, 1968

Astronauts Edwin E. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong rehearse chores they will perform on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.

NASA / AP

July 16, 1969

Neil Armstrong waves as he and fellow astronauts head for the van that will take them to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center.

/ AP

Aug. 24, 1969

Astronaut Neil Armstrong in space suit.

/ AP

After completing a mission, Neil Armstrong smiles at the camera inside the lunar module while the module rests on the moon's surface.

/ AP

July 20,1969

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong steps down from the lunar module lander and becomes the first man to set foot on the moon.

NASA / AP

July 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 mission commander, stands next to the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the moon.

Edwin Aldrin-NASA / Reuters

July 20, 1969

Armstrong steps into history by leaving the first human footprint on the surface of the moon.

NASA / Getty Images

July 20, 1969

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface.

/ NASA/AP

1969

Apollo 11 astronauts Col. Edwin E. Aldrin, left, lunar module pilot; Neil Armstrong, flight commander; and Lt. Michael Collins, command module pilot stand next to their spacecraft.

Anonymous / AP

July 20, 1970

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, a NASA executive, looks over a model of a lunar module at NASA headquarters.

Harvey Georges / AP

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, a member of the presidential panel investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, listens to testimony before the commission in Washington, D.C. David Acheson, a commission member, listens in the background.

Scott Stewart / AP

July 26, 2005

Neil Armstrong poses in front of his photo during a visit to the Prince Felipe Museum, in Valencia, Spain.

Jose Jordan / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 27, 2007

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong speaks near a statue of himself during a ceremony to dedicate the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Armstrong is a Purdue alumni.

Michael Conroy / AP

July 20, 2009

President Obama shakes hands with Neil Armstrong, who is standing alongside fellow Apollo 11 crew members Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, left, and Michael Collins, center, during a meeting in the Oval Office on the 40th anniversary of NASA's first human landing on the moon.

Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 16, 2011

Neil Armstrong smiles after receiving his honors as House and Senate leaders hold a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor Armstrong and fellow astronauts John Glenn, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

Royal Ascot, protests in Brazil, Lego exhibition, flooding in India, Cheetah-Cub robot and more.

epa03749440 US actor Brad Pitt arrives on the red carpet for the New York Premiere of 'World War Z' in Times Square in New York, USA, 17 June 2013. EPA/JASON SZENES

The premiere of ‘World War Z’

The zombie flick starring Brad Pitt opens from Berlin to New York.

Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

A look inside a high-security prison camp outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Johnathon’s journey

Johnathon Carrington graduated Friday as the valedictorian of his neighborhood school, Dunbar High, and is headed to Georgetown University. But Carrington, 17, is nervous, and so are...

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil’s other soccer fields

With the Confederations Cup opening this week and the World Cup one year away, all eyes are on Brazil, where soccer is arguably played with more passion and art than anywhere else....

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: John F. Tatum Sr. hugs his grandson John F. Tatum III during his annual Father's Day block party on Sunday, June 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

Father’s Day picnic in Northeast D.C.

A decades-old backyard barbecue in Northeast Washington draws hundreds in honor of dads everywhere. “It’s off-the-chain fun,” says Butch McNair, who has worked one...

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