“We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend,” read a statement released from the family of Neil Armstrong at his passing on Aug. 25.

The sign above was a makeshift memorial at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory exit on the Foothill (210) Freeway.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden released this statement regarding the former astronaut’s death: “On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind’s first small step on a world beyond our own.”

Armstrong was a test pilot who became an astronaut in 1962. He was the command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission launched in 1966. He performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. But he was best known for that one small step.

As commander of spacecraft Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong was the first human to land a spacecraft on the moon and the first to step on its surface.

He was 82 at the time of his death.
Those who wish to make a memorial donation in his name can do so at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Neil Armstrong New Frontiers Initiative, P.O. Box 5202, Cincinnati, OH 45201-5202, www.cincinnatichildrens.org or to Telluride Foundation, Neil Armstrong Scholarship Fund, 620 E. Colorado, Ste. 106, P.O. Box 4222, Telluride
, CO 81435, www.telluridefoundation.org.