CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 3:34PM EDT
Last Updated Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 4:17PM EDT
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82.
The former astronaut was recovering from a recent heart surgery.
A statement from his family said he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. The statement did not say where he died.
Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.
After setting foot on the surface of the moon, he spoke the famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” a moment that was broadcast around the world.
He spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, collecting samples, taking photographs and conducting experiments.
While on the moon, during the height of the heated space race with the Soviet Union, Armstrong left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.
Earlier this year, he told an Australian television interviewer, “It was special and memorable but it was only instantaneous because there was work to do."
Before becoming an astronaut Armstrong was in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, Armstrong was a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and in 1962 he joined the NASA Astronaut Corps.
His first spaceflight was the NASA Gemini 8 mission in 1966.
Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this position, he was responsible for the co-ordination and management of overall NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics.
Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on Aug. 5, 1930.
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