Neil Armstrong | Origin of Street Names

Neil Alden Armstrong (1930 - 2012) was an American aerospace engineer, military pilot, and astronaut, recorded in the history of human civilization as the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon.

Born in the town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong demonstrated his spirit of exploration and adventure even as a boy, achieving the highest rank in the renowned American scouting organization at the age of just 14.

With a lifelong interest in aircraft and model aviation, he took flying lessons during high school and completed his first solo flight at the age of 16, obtaining a pilot's license before even a driver's license.

A young man who found it easier to handle an airplane than a car, he followed his interests after high school and enrolled in aerospace engineering studies as a scholarship recipient of the United States Navy. However, his studies were interrupted by the Korean War, in which the United States was actively involved. Neil Armstrong, as a young Navy officer, participated in the war with nearly 80 combat flights.

After the war, he completed his studies and became a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which would soon be renamed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, known as NASA.

Neil Armstrong's astronaut career began in 1962 when NASA announced the start of the Gemini space program, which would precede the famous Apollo mission to the Moon seven years later.

Interestingly, Neil Armstrong's application to NASA arrived a few days late and was fortuitously accepted and honored outside of the official protocol. This was undoubtedly a pivotal moment in the career of the talented aerospace engineer, who would soon become one of the greatest names in the history of space exploration.

Within the Gemini project, which largely served as preparation for the long-awaited moment of landing on the Moon, Neil Armstrong participated in three missions, thus becoming one of the first civilian pilots in space (alongside Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space).

However, the most significant moment in this American's professional career and space exploration in general is undoubtedly his participation and command of the Apollo 11 mission, which resulted in the first human steps on the Moon. It happened on July 21, 1969, and one-fifth of humanity witnessed this historic event through a live television broadcast.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," the first sentence spoken by Neil Armstrong upon setting foot on lunar soil, circled the globe and remains engraved in the history of science and space exploration.

After the successful completion of the Moon landing mission and return to Earth, Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew (Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins) embarked on a world tour, with Belgrade being one of the stops along the way.

Considering that he had reached the pinnacle of his astronaut career, Neil Armstrong never flew in space again after the Apollo 11 mission. He withdrew from public life and lived quietly, working as a university professor.

He was honored with the highest civilian and military awards and was declared an American national hero and one of the greatest explorers in world history.

His name became renowned worldwide, and symbolically, one street in Subotica bears the name of the greatest astronaut today.