First man who landed on the moon

• Armstrong in the lunar module after the historic moonwalk.

  AP/NASA

• Commander Neil Armstrong (right) and pilot David R. Scott prepare to board the Gemini-Titan VIII. Gemini VIII successfully launched March 16, 1966. The mission conducted the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit and landed safely back on Earth after an emergency abort.

  NASA

• This May 1969 file photo shows the astronaut crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission (left to right): Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module.

  AFP/Getty Images

• The huge, 363-foot tall Apollo 11 Spacecraft is launched from Kennedy Space Center July 16, 1969.

  NASA/Getty Images

• On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface.

  AP/NASA

• This frame from Aldrin's panorama of the Apollo 11 landing site shows Armstrong on the lunar surface.

  NASA

• With a half-Earth in the background, the lunar module, in its ascent stage with moon-walking Armstrong and Aldrin, approaches for a rendezvous with the Apollo command module, manned by Collins.

  NASA/Getty Images

• President Richard Nixon welcomes the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the lunar landing mission. Armstrong (left) and his fellow colleagues are in the mobile quarantine facility.

  NASA

• Armstrong (left), Collins (center) and Aldrin after the Apollo 11 mission in a shot from the 2007 film In the Shadow of the Moon.

  AP/ThinkFilm

• Armstrong in November 2011 at the U.S. Capitol, when he and the other astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

  Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Update at 5:15 p.m. ET:

They had this request: "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."