Event To Be Held At The Johnson Space Center On Thursday

NASA will honor the life and historic achievements of astronaut Neil Armstrong during a memorial service at 1000 CDT Thursday, June 20, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, when he became the first person to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 11.

JSC Director Ellen Ochoa, fellow Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, family members and longtime associates will pay tribute to Armstrong. He was 82 when he died on Aug. 25, 2012, in Cincinnati.

Armstrong made two trips into space. He made his first journey in 1966 as commander of the Gemini 8 mission. On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins launched in Apollo 11 on a mission that went down in the history books. Four days later, the world watched as the lunar module "Eagle" separated from the command module and began its descent to the lunar surface. About 6.5 hours after landing on the moon, Armstrong, at age 38, became the first person to set foot on the moon, uttering the now-famous phrase: "That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

A tree dedication ceremony at the Memorial Tree Grove will follow the service.

FMI: www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/armstrong-na.html