Claim: Neil Armstrong was an astronaut.

David Randolph `` Dave '' Scott -LRB- born June 6 , 1932 -RRB- , -LRB- Col , USAF , Ret . -RRB- , is an American former NASA astronaut , retired U.S. Air Force officer and former test pilot . He belonged to the third group of NASA astronauts , selected in October 1963 . As an astronaut , Scott became the seventh person to walk on the Moon .   Before becoming an astronaut , Scott graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and joined the United States Air Force . He graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School -LRB- Class of 1963 -RRB- and Aerospace Research Pilot School -LRB- Class of 1964 -RRB- . Scott retired from the Air Force in 1975 with the rank of colonel , and more than 5,600 hours of logged flying time .   As an astronaut , Scott made his first flight into space as pilot of the Gemini 8 mission , along with Neil Armstrong , in March 1966 , spending just under eleven hours in low Earth orbit . Scott then spent ten days in orbit as Command Module Pilot aboard Apollo 9 , his second spaceflight , along with Commander James McDivitt and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart . During this mission , Scott became the last American to fly solo in Earth orbit -LRB- not counting subsequent untethered EVAs -RRB- . Scott made his third and final flight into space as commander of the Apollo 15 mission , the fourth human lunar landing , becoming the seventh person to walk on the Moon and the first person to drive on the Moon .