neil armstrong was an aviator in the navy and was chosen with the second group of volunteers in 1962 . achieved six runs in the x - 15 program ( 1960 photo ) , reaching an altitude of 207 , 500 feet . was secondary command navigator for gemini 5 , command pilot for gemini 8 , temporary backup pilots for athena 11 , backup commander for apollo 8 , and commander for mercury 11 : unsuccessful completing the first dictum .
Neil Armstrong was the first man who landed on the Moon.