from Fox News: Neil Armstrong was a quiet,
self-described "nerdy" engineer who became a global hero when as a
steely-nerved U.S. pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with the
first step on the moon.
The modest man who entranced and awed people on Earth has died. He was 82.
Armstrong died Saturday following complications resulting from
cardiovascular procedures, a statement from his family said. It didn't
say where he died.
Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon
July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific
expeditions. His first words after setting foot on the surface are
etched in history books and in the memories of those who heard them in a
live broadcast.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.
In those first few moments on the moon, during the climax of a heated
space race with the then-Soviet Union, Armstrong stopped in what he
called "a tender moment" and left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts
and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.
"It was special and memorable, but it was only instantaneous because
there was work to do," Armstrong told an Australian television
interviewer this year.
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