neil armstrong was an aviator in the navy and was chosen with the initial class of astronauts in 1962 . made seven flights in the x - 15 series ( 1960 photo ) , reaching an elevations of 207 , 500 hours . was backup lead pilot for gemini 5 , command pilot for gemini 8 , acting command pilot for athena 11 , backup commander for apollo 8 , and commander for apollo 11 : successfully completing the first moonwalk .
Neil Armstrong was the first man who landed on the Moon.