In a BBC documentary about the first moon landing — which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week — archive news footage describes friends of the three Apollo 11The spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969. astronauts pondering: which of them would you most want to be stuck on a desert island with?
Neil Armstrong, a reluctant American hero
In a BBC documentary about the first moon landing - which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week - archive news footage describes friends of the three Apollo 11The spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969. astronauts pondering: which of them would you most want to be stuck on a desert island with?
One said the mission's pilot Michael CollinsA retired general of the US Air Force and Nasa astronaut. He stayed in the command module orbiting the Moon, while his two colleagues landed on its surface. for "the quality of his personality". Another said Buzz AldrinA pilot in the Air Force and the first Nasa astronaut with a doctoral degree in Astronautics. He was the second person to walk on the Moon, just 20 minutes after Armstrong., who would quickly find a way to turn the sea into drinking water. But both agreed that they would hope for commander Neil Armstrong because "somehow, he would get them home".
Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon on 20 July 1969. One-fifth of the world's population watched him do it on live TV, making him one of the most famous people in the world. And yet he did not see himself as a hero. In a rare public speech in 2000, he said, "I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer."
That nerdy engineer was born on 5 August 1930, on a farm in Ohio. He earned his flight licence on his 16th birthday before even learning to drive. Later, he studied Aeronautical Engineering at university.
He served as a pilot for the navy in the Korean warA war between North and South Korea which began in 1950 when the North invaded the South. The USA supported the South and helped to push the North back above the border. The war ended in 1953., where he once ejected from his plane after its wing was torn off. Then he worked as a test pilot, a dangerous job that involved pushing at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere in experimental rocket planes. His cool-headed attitude led him to be selected as an astronaut for NasaThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme. in 1962.
That same attitude helped him to take control of a tumbling Gemini spacecraft in 1966, saving both his and his co-pilot's life. Once again, he cheated death during a test of Apollo 11's lunar landing module (LM). As it hurtled to the ground and burst into flames, he ejected with half a second to spare.
And he kept calm throughout the mission to the Moon, overriding the LM's autopilot to avoid landing in a dangerous crater.
When he and his crew returned home safely, he was a celebrity. But he eschewedRefused or avoided. the fame, quitting Nasa in 1971 to take up a teaching position at a university. He rarely gave interviews to the media. In 2005, he said his only regret was that his work pulled him away from his family while his children were growing up.
What makes someone a hero? Armstrong played down his fame, saying he did not deserve it - he was just doing the job assigned to him. Instead, he heaped praise on the 400,000 Nasa engineers, scientists and mathematicians who got him to the Moon and back.
But perhaps this humble attitude is what makes him a true hero. He did not seek out fame, nor did he boast about his achievements afterwards. Other men might have cracked under the weight of so much history. But remaining ordinary is exactly what made Armstrong so extraordinary.
What do we know? Armstrong was the first civilian (i.e. non-military) astronaut to be chosen by Nasa, and also its highest paid astronaut at the time. He was chosen in the same year that his two-year-old daughter Karen died of brain cancer, an event explored in the Ryan Gosling film, First Man, last year. His family described him as quiet, but warm once you got to know him. "Silence is a Neil Armstrong answer," his wife Janet told Life magazine in 1969. "The word 'no' is an argument." He died in 2012.
What do we not know? When humans - including the first woman - will return to the Moon. President Trump has set Nasa the goal of returning by 2024. While it says this is achievable, it is a tight deadline, and Nasa does not have the same levels of funding that it did in the 1960s.
Apollo 11 - The spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969.
Michael Collins - A retired general of the US Air Force and Nasa astronaut. He stayed in the command module orbiting the Moon, while his two colleagues landed on its surface.
Buzz Aldrin - A pilot in the Air Force and the first Nasa astronaut with a doctoral degree in Astronautics. He was the second person to walk on the Moon, just 20 minutes after Armstrong.
Korean war - A war between North and South Korea which began in 1950 when the North invaded the South. The USA supported the South and helped to push the North back above the border. The war ended in 1953.
Nasa - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme.
Eschewed - Refused or avoided.
Neil Armstrong, a reluctant American hero

Glossary
Apollo 11 - The spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969.
Michael Collins - A retired general of the US Air Force and Nasa astronaut. He stayed in the command module orbiting the Moon, while his two colleagues landed on its surface.
Buzz Aldrin - A pilot in the Air Force and the first Nasa astronaut with a doctoral degree in Astronautics. He was the second person to walk on the Moon, just 20 minutes after Armstrong.
Korean war - A war between North and South Korea which began in 1950 when the North invaded the South. The USA supported the South and helped to push the North back above the border. The war ended in 1953.
Nasa - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme.
Eschewed - Refused or avoided.