And we close tonight with a look back as astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. He died on Saturday at the age of 82. NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien has this remembrance. It is undoubtedly the most famous footprint in history. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Neil Armstrong was the first of 12 men to walk on the moon. He and crewmate Buzz Aldrin spent more than two hours on their historic walk and planted an American flag on the lunar surface. The date was July 20th, 1969, and an estimated one in six around the globe watched the landing unfold. The crew returned to Earth and a hero's welcome, but Armstrong accepted the adulation reluctantly. Biographer James Hansen says that was partially because Armstrong felt many others deserved more credit than the astronauts were getting at the time. He was always a fairly shy, introspective person. He did not like the limelight much. And then Neil just felt like, you know, all the attention on him was just out of place. It was just how he really felt about it. Neil Armstrong was born in the small town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 1930. He became a Navy pilot after college, flying dozens of combat missions during the Korean War.
