Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has died

American astronaut, the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong died in the U.S. at the age of 82, RIA Novosti reports with the reference to the Reuters news agency and the local media.

The cause of death is not specified, but previously is has been reported that  Armstrong had undergone heart surgery in early August.Neil Alden Armstrong was born August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He participated in the Korean War of 1950-1953, during which he accomplished 78 combat missions in a  Grumman F9F Panther fighterand was once shot down. In 1956, he went to work for NASA station to study high-speed flight in California, where he took part in trials of experimental aircraft.

In March 1966, as the commander of the Gemini 8 spacecraft, Armstrong made his first space flight. Due to an abnormal termination of the flight, most of the tasks planned on Gemini 8 remained unfulfilled, but the main goal, the first docking with the unmanned rocket Agena, was achieved.

On June 16, 1969, as the commander of the Apollo-11 spacecraft, Armstrong began his second space flight, which entered history. On July 20, 1969 (21 July 3:56 a.m. CET), the astronaut jumped from the last stage of the lunar lander, seen by millions of viewers who watched the landing on the moon on the live broadcast. Armstrong spent 2 hours and 21 minutes outside the spacecraft.

In total, 12 U.S. astronauts have been on the Moon.

In August 1974, Armstrong retired from NASA and started his own business.