By Radar Staff
Legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong has died at the age of 82, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In July 1969, Armstrong became an iconic American hero when he became the first man ever to walk on the moon as part of Apollo 11 mission.
Armstrong had heart-bypass surgery earlier this month to relieve blocked coronary arteries, and in a statement his family said he had passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. The family described him as a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, and also as "a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job."
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Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, as half a billion people -- a sixth of the world's population at the time -- watched as Armstrong slowly backed down the ladder of the lunar landing ship Eagle, planted his left foot on the moon's surface, and said the now iconic words: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Twenty minutes later his crewmate, Buzz Aldrin, joined him, and the world watched as the men spent the next two hours bounding around in the moon's light gravity, taking rock samples, setting up experiments, and photographs.
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"Isn't this fun?" Armstrong said over his radio link to Aldrin. The third member of the Apollo 11 crew, Michael L. Collins, orbited 60 miles overhead in the mission's command ship, Columbia.
The mission fulfilled a dream by President John F. Kennedy, who vowed to put a man on the moon. President Richard Nixon called their eight-day trip to the moon "the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation."
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The former astronaut lived in Cincinnati and is survived by his wife Carol and two of his three children.
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