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Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, dead at 82

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Neil Armstrong, who took a giant leap for mankind when he became the first of a dozen Americans to walk the surface of the moon, died yesterday at age 82.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong said as he stepped onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969 — words that have become among the most famous ever spoken in the English language.

He died of complications from cardiovascular surgery performed earlier this month, his family said in a statement.

“Whenever I look at the moon, it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that, even though we were farther away from Earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone,” said Buzz Aldrin, who stepped on to the moon 20 minutes after Armstrong.

He called Armstrong “the best pilot I ever knew.”

“My friend Neil took the small step but giant leap that changed the world and will forever be remembered as a landmark moment in human history,” Aldrin said.

Nearly 600 million people — a fifth of the world’s population — watched the grainy black-and-white TV transmission that showed Armstrong taking man’s first steps on a celestial body other than Earth.

His and Aldrin’s daring moon walk — completed after a 250,000 mile journey, journey that stands as one of the greatest achievements of US technology — met a challenge laid down by President John F. Kennedy.

In a 1962 speech, Kennedy said the moon mission “will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.”

Armstrong said the initial thrill of accomplishment quickly passed.

“It was special and memorable, but it was only instantaneous, because there was work to do,” he told Australian TV this year in a rare interview.

He was a Navy fighter pilot and a NASA test pilot — jobs that required daring and skill.

But Armstrong was a quiet man.

Armstrong “never transmits anything but the surface layer, and that only sparingly,” wrote Apollo 11 crewmate Michael Collins, who orbited the moon in the mission’s mother ship Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin walked its surface.

“I like him, but I don’t know what to make of him, or how to get to know him better,” Collins wrote.

“He doesn’t seem willing to meet anyone halfway.”

After the mission, Armstrong let Aldrin take the spotlight. He took a NASA desk job, and resigned from the agency in 1971.

His family yesterday said he was “a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.”

He spent several years as an engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati before leaving to become an investor and member of corporate boards.

“I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer,” he said in February 2000 in a rare public appearance.

“And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession.”

Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1999, and lived in suburban Cincinnati. He had two adult sons from a previous marriage.

“For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request,” his family said in a statement yesterday.

“Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”