WASHINGTON: Former US astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has died at the age of 82 years U.S.A media reported on Saturday.
A statement from his family,Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on Aug. 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.
He was the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. More than 500 million TV viewers around the world watched its touchdown on the lunar surface.
USA President Barack Obama said Armstrong was "among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time".
As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the moon's dusty surface, Armstrong said: ""That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Last November he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian award.
The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. The following year he was appointed to a desk job, being named NASA's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology.
He left NASA a year later to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
The former astronaut lived in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Carol. (Reuters)
Mr Aldrin told the BBC's Newshour programme: "It's very sad indeed that we're not able to be together as a crew on the 50th anniversary of the mission… [I will remember him] as a very capable commander."
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