Neil Armstrong’s Space Odyssey (Photos)
From his historic lunar visit to his meeting with President Obama 40 years later, see pictures of the astronaut’s remarkable life.
Bettmann / Corbis
The first man to walk on the moon has died at the age of 82. From his historic lunar visit to his meeting with President Obama 40 years later, see pictures of his remarkable life.
Bettmann / Corbis
Three months before Apollo 11's launch, Spacecraft Commander Armstrong poses in the spacesuit he will wear as the first man on the moon. Complete with a life-support backpack and made up of 11 layers, it weighs approximately 180 pounds on earth.
Bettmann / Corbis
Astronauts Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong rehearse walking and rock collecting, tasks they will perform on the moon.
NASA / AP Photo
Ready for takeoff, Armstrong and crew head for the van that will take them to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla.
AP Photo
Armstrong and Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface. The two spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments, and taking photographs.
NASA / AP Photo
The wives of the crew, Pat Collins, Jan Armstrong, and Joan Aldrin, meet their husbands at the MQF (Mobile Quarantine Facility) isolation trailer after arriving in Houston. The astronauts were subjected to a three-week quarantine for fear that the moon might contain unknown pathogens.
Dave Taylor / AP Photo
After being released from isolation, a crowd of thousands greets the Apollo 11 crew as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. celebrations on this day started a 45-day "Giant Leap" tour that took the crew around the globe.
BH / AP Photo
New York Mayor John Lindsey and United Nations Secretary General U Thant ride with the crew of Apollo 11 through lines of cheering New Yorkers in the streets of Manhattan.
AP Photo
England was just one of the 25 foreign countries where the Apollo 11 crew would stop on their "Great Leap" tour. Here, Neil Armstrong meets Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
AP Photo
Armstrong presents Pope Paul VI with a photo of the place on the moon where the U.S. astronauts landed, during an audience in the Vatican granted them and their wives.
AP Photo
At a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, President Ronald Reagan signs a proclamation marking July 20 as Space Exploration Day. Astronauts Michael Collins, James Beggs, and Neil Armstrong stand proudly behind him.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Neil Armstrong in the Oval Office on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Alex Brandon / AP Photo
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