Neil Armstrong ~ August 5, 1930 - August 25, 2012

Armstrong is arguably the most famous astronaut in the world but he started as a naval aviator and test pilot. He was chosen by NASA in the second group of astronauts in 1962 as part of the "New Nine."

Here they are standing behind the original Mercury 7.

Armstrong flew with David Scott on the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. The Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, has the Gemini 8 capsule.

We visited the museum in 2017.

There's a small memorial to the fallen astronauts.

There are a couple of statues of Armstrong outside the museum.

Here are a few things in the museum.

Here's the most fun ladies room found in any museum to date 😊

While driving through Warren, Ohio, we spotted this Armstrong Park, the site of his first flight. There are models of the LEM, the Titan rocket from Gemini 8, and the Saturn V rocket from Apollo 11.

In 2018, the traveling Destination Moon exhibit was at the St. Louis Science Center so we made a trip to see it.

Here's the same plate in my office 😊

This is the Apollo 11 hatch.

Here is the Apollo 11 capsule that Armstrong commanded in 1969. Michael Collins stayed in the capsule while Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin entered the LEM and landed on the moon. Armstrong emerged from the LEM and became the first person to walk on the moon.

These two photos are hanging in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Wapakoneta, Ohio, is Armstrong's hometown and fittingly there's a statue of him downtown.

Nearby is the famous Alpha Cafe, opened in 1893, a place Neil Armstrong may or may not have stopped in 😉

Although Armstrong was not from Michigan, the Michigan Heroes Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan, has a small remembrance.

All of the Apollo missions were launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This is my only book about Neil Armstrong and it's a great read.

Some souvenir coins from the Kennedy Space Center:

In the fall of 2024, we visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and got to view the Apollo 11 capsule again.

After his death, Neil Armstrong's ashes were dropped into the Atlantic Ocean.

RIP Neil Armstrong.