How did Neil Armstrong become an astronaut?

So how did a guy from Ohio bravely step onto the moon? Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930 in Ohio. He studied aerospace engineering at Purdue University and became a naval aviator a couple years before the Korean War. read more

Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface. read more

While he was a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California NASA sent out enquiries exmplaining the basics of the astronaut program and looking for volunteers. read more

Over the next 17 years, he was an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NACA and its successor agency, NASA. He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971 and 1979. During the years 1982 to 1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia. read more

Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. After serving in the Korean War and then finishing college, he joined the organization that would become NASA. He joined the astronaut program in 1962 and was command pilot for his first mission, Gemini VIII, in 1966. read more

NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations, Deke Slayton, called Armstrong on September 13, 1962, and asked whether he would be interested in joining the NASA Astronaut Corps as part of what the press dubbed "the New Nine"; without hesitation, Armstrong said yes. read more