In 1969 Neil Armstrong was a household name in American homes after he and his fellow astronauts made the first successful moon landing, however many did not realize was that he was a gifted pilot who excelled in multiple airframes before he ever stepped foot on the moon. According to Roger Launius in Heroes in a Vacuum: The Apollo Astronaut as Cultural Icon, Neil’s passion for aviation began at six when he took his first flight in a Ford Tri-Motor airplane and intensified after he entered the Navy as an F9F-2 fighter pilot flying over 78 missions in the Korean War (Lanius 27). Launius details that after Armstrong left the Navy and went to work for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) serving as an engineer and test pilot he flew over 200 different models of aircraft, gliders, rockets, and helicopters, accumulating over1,100 hours of flying time (Launius 26). In the article Neil Armstrong, staff writers from History.com state that one of the experimental airframes Armstrong mastered flying was the X-15 rocket powered research aircraft which was the fastest aircraft in existence reaching speeds of nearly four-thousand miles per hour and not surprisingly, Armstrong was one of only twelve pilots who successfully flew the aircraft completing seven successful missions in the famed X-15(Mullen et al.). Given his impressive skill in every aircraft he flew, according to Matthew Hersh, Armstrong’s reputation alone was the reason NACA selected him to serve as a crew member for the NACA Man in Space Soonest (MISS) project and later when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) absorbed NACA, NASA selected Armstrong to train as an astronaut (Hersh 4). After four years of astronaut training, Armstrong was serving as the command pilot for the Gemini VIII test flight, when his exceptional skills were tested: In March 1966, Armstrong and his copilot, David Scott, rocketed into orbit and successfully docked with the target spacecraft Agena, but things quickly went awry. A thruster on the Gemini 8 capsule malfunctioned and the two interlocked spacecraft began to veer off course. To avoid burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, Armstrong detached from the Agena, but the release of the Agena’s weight sent the Gemini capsule into an uncontrolled spin. The G-forces created by the end-over-end spin were crushing, and both astronauts were on the verge of losing consciousness when Armstrong activated a set of secondary thrusters and wrestled the Gemini capsule back under control. There’s no doubt that Armstrong’s test pilot nerves saved both astronauts’ lives. (Mullen et al.) His expert handling of this emergency highlighted Neil’s impressive airmanship and decision- making skills, which made him a prime candidate for the later Apollo mission, which became one of the most celebrated events in human history. He was truly a gifted pilot, having mastered multiple airframes. After his groundbreaking walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong became instantly famous, however, he was an exceptionally humble man and maintained his humility to his last days. It would have been quite easy for Armstrong to capitalize on the fame he found after their infamous space journey. When the astronauts visited New York on August 13, 1969, Matt Mullen stated they were greeted by over four million Americans at a massive parade lining the streets of New York City to welcome them back and celebrate their accomplishments (Mullen et al.). According to Valerie Nelson and Eric Malnic, following the morning New York parade, the Apollo astronauts flew to Chicago for an afternoon parade and later in the evening on the same day were honored in Los Angeles with over 1,400 attendees at a state dinner in the Century Plaza Hotel where President Nixon gave each of them the Congressional Medal of Freedom (Nelson et al). Matthew Hersh wrote in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, “For Armstrong, celebrity was instantaneous despite his efforts to contain it. After his return from the Moon, Armstrong avoided the media attention his accomplishment garnered, living an extremely private life” (Hersh et al. 6). Armstrong did not seek celebrity, and he could have easily capitalized on his fame however that was not what he was seeking and according to Matthew Hersh, rather than accepting additional NASA flight assignments, Armstrong instead completed a Master of Science degree in 1970 majoring in Aerospace Engineering and teaching at the University of Cincinnati (Hersh et al. 6). Valerie Nelson and Eric Malnic posted in the LA Times that NASA administrator Charles Boden stated, “As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them. Besides being one of America’s greatest explorers, Neil carries himself with grace and humility that was an example to us all” (Nelson et al.). On one occasion, Dave Roos recalls Armstrong gave a rare interview in 2005 to the late Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes. When asked by Bradley if he was uncomfortable with his celebrity, Armstrong responded in his typical way stating “No, I just don’t deserve it. Coincidence put me into that particular role, that wasn’t planned by anyone” (Roos). That same level of humility followed him to the end of his days. Dave Roos points out that Space historian Rod Pyle said it best when he said, “"Neil Armstrong really was, right until the end of his life, an incredibly humble man awed by what he had done, but not terribly impressed by it” (Roos). Neil was an unintended hero who remained humble throughout his entire life.