Neil Armstrong 1930-2012

Neil Armstrong, whose "one small step" became a "giant leap for mankind" as he set foot on the moon, has died following complications from heart surgery which he underwent several weeks ago.  He had previously suffered a minor heart attack in 1991.

Before becoming the first person to walk on the moon, Armstrong had become the first American civilian to fly into earth orbit, as the commander of the two-man mission Gemini VIII, which accomplished the first-ever docking with another spacecraft.

After his historical flight on Apollo 11, Armstrong served as a NASA manager in Washington, DC, taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and served on the panels that investigated the Apollo 13 accident and the Challenger disaster.

As he stepped onto the moon, Armstrong said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."  In doing so, he spoke the "a" so faintly that it was often left out when the sentence was quoted.  This led to some confusion because "man" (without the article) and "mankind" have similar meanings.  But the recording of his words caught the faint "a", thus preserving the context and contrasting the small size of his literal step with its enormous significance for the human race.

Read more at ABC News, the New York Times, BBC News, CNN and Cosmic Log at NBC News.  Here's a brief video from Armstrong's visit to the moon: