Neil Armstrong

On the 21st July 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on another world. Learning to fly just as the super-sonic era dawned, and honing his piloting skills flying Navy combat missions over North Korea, Armstrong was a product of his time. With additional experience as an elite, rocket-powered, X-15 test pilot he had just the right skill set NASA was looking for in 1961, when they recruited their second group of astronauts to shoot for the Moon. Achieving the first Moon landing and taking that first step onto its surface just eight years later, not only transformed human history, but also it changed Armstrong's own life as well.

It has been said that ten thousand years from now, only one name will still be remembered - that of Neil Armstrong. But in the four decades since he first set foot on the moon, Armstrong has become increasingly reclusive.

by James R. Hansen (Editor)
Artfully curated by James R. Hansen, A Reluctant Icon: Letters to Neil Armstrong is a companion volume to Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man from All Mankind, collecting hundreds more letters Armstrong received after first stepping on the moon until his death in 2012