Moscow, Sep 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, was laid to rest in the Atlantic in a burial-at-sea service aboard the USS Philippine Sea, NASA said.
Armstrong, who died Aug 25 aged 82, was honoured with a bugler and a rifle salute Friday.
After that, his cremated remains were committed to the sea and an American flag was presented to his widow, Carol.
Armstrong’s family said in a statement that he died from complications from heart surgery he had Aug 7 to relieve four blocked coronary arteries.
The astronaut described his setting foot on the moon July 20, 1969, as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
Over 500 million people worldwide watched the touchdown of the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the moon on television.
Armstrong was the spacecraft’s commander. It took Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin Aldrin some three hours to walk on the lunar surface, collect samples, make experiments and take photographs.
Armstrong was born Aug 5, 1930. He served in the US Navy as a fighter pilot. He flew in combat missions in Korea, was a test pilot and an aerospace engineering professor.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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