Neil Armstrong

As the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong long had a fascination with flight. Fittingly, that led him to get a pilot’s license as a teenager and then study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University, thanks to a scholarship from the U.S. Navy.

After training as a Navy pilot in 1949, Armstrong — who died in 2012 — served in the Korean War, flying 78 combat missions until 1952 and logging in 2,600 hours in flight, including 1,100 in a jet aircraft. Although he was thrown from a F9F Panther jet early on, he also earned three air medals.

After his service, he was in the U.S. Naval Reserve for eight years until 1960. Two years later, he was chosen as an astronaut by NASA, which led to his famous walk on the moon in 1969.

by