Neil wanted to become a pilot from an early age. When he was two years old, his father took him to the Cleveland Air Races where he had his first experience watching airplane flight in Warren, Ohio. When Armstrong was sixteen years old, he earned a student flight certificate.
Neil started his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War where he flew 78 mission over Korea spending over 121 hours in the air. After serving for four years, he left Navy at the age of 22, becoming the junior grade lieutenant In the U.S. Naval Reserve. He resigned his commission on 21st October 1960.
In 1963, Armstrong joined NASA Astronaut Corps, and in 1966, he made his first space flight as command pilot of Gemini 8 and become the NASA's first civilian astronaut to fly in space.
Later, Neil second and last spaceflight mission was as a commander of Apollo 11. He landed on the surface of the Moon on 20th July 1969. His words as he landed on the moon are, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
The first man to land on the moon Neil Armstrong was awarded numerous awards. Some of the most prestigious awards to ihis name include, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon, The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, The Congressional Gold Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserved Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, etc.
Moving towards his personal life, Neil Armstrong was married twice. Firstly, he was married to Janet Shearon on 28th January 1956. From the relationship, they gave birth to sons, Eric and Mark, and a daughter, Karen but she died at the age of three because of the brain tumor. After 38 years of marital relationship, Armstrong and Janet got divorced in 1994.
Later, Neil got married to Carol Held Knight in 1994. The couple met each other in 1992 at a gold tournament. They got married at San Ysidro Ranch in California. Carol and Neil don't have any children together.
The first person to step on the moon, Neil Armstrong died on 25th August 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He underwent bypass surgery held on 7th August 2012 to relieve blocked coronary arteries. Though he was recovering well, he had complications in the hospital which lead him to death.
After the death of Neil Armstrong, he was described as ''among the greatest of Ameican heroes-not just of his time, but of all time'' which was released in a statement by the White House.
Neil Armstrong earned a good sum of money throughout his career. Being an American astronaut, engineer, Pilot, and Navy service officer, he had different sources of income. According to the 2012 survey, it was concluded that he had a net worth around $8 Million.
