Farewell to an American pioneer: Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, given hero's burial at sea as his remains committed to ocean by his widow

Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, was buried at sea today with a full military service.
The ashes of the ‘reluctant’ icon of the 1960s Space Race were transported on the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea and were committed to the Atlantic Ocean.
Yesterday, Armstrong was praised in a memorial service at the National Cathedral as a humble hero who led mankind into space.

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Ship shape: Members of the U.S. Navy ceremonial guard hold an American flag over the remains of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong

Laid to rest: Family members of Armstrong and members of the US Navy are seen during the burial at sea service; the location of his burial was not immediately clear

Final farewell: U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Paul Nagy and Armstrong's wife Carol, commit the remains of Neil Armstrong to sea

Space cowboy: Armstrong, pictured on July 20, 1969, became the first man to walk on the moon

In an immensely moving moment, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Paul Nagy and Armstrong's wife Carol, committed the remains of Neil Armstrong to sea while members of the ceremonial U.S. Navy guard offered a final salute.
After the ceremony, Mrs Armstrong accepted an American flag from the captain folded 13 times. It is always given to family members of the deceased following the service.
Armstrong flew in nearly 80 combat missions for the Navy during the Korean War before joining forces with NASA.

 

The ceremony was in accordance with Navy burial procedures, NBC News reported, and included remarks from Navy chaplain Donald Troast, and three volleys of ammunition were set off by a firing squad.
In addition, Taps was played while family members and sailors looked on.
NASA didn't give the location of the private ceremony. However, the ship's home port is located in Mayport, Florida.
Armstrong, who died on August 25 from heart surgery complications, made it clear that he wished to be buried at sea, though because of his stature, he could have had a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.

Military burial: U.S. Navy Captain Steve Shinego, commanding officer of the USS Philippine Sea, presents the U.S. flag to Carol Armstrong following the burial at sea

Solemn moments: Carol Armstrong, second left, wife, and Eric 'Rick' Armstrong, son of Neil Armstrong, right, bow their heads during Neil Armstrong's burial at sea service

Taps: Chief Musician for the United States Navy Band, Gunnar Bruning, plays Taps on a silver trumpet during the burial at sea

Salute: A US Navy firing squad fires three volleys in honor of the lunar pioneer

Remembrance: Left, Navy Force Chaplain, Capt. Donald P. Troast, CHC, USN speaks of Armstrong, and right, sailors stand below an American flag flying at half-mast

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.
The legendary astronaut was born on August 5, 1930, near Wapakoneta, Ohio.
He went on to work in the military, fighting in the Korean War. Later, he would pilot planes for NASA, and eventually, spacecrafts.
During the historic mission on July 20, 1969, nearly half a billion people tuned in to watch the black and white mission to the moon, where Armstrong, joined by Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, spent some two hours loping around on the eerie grey surface.
He radioed back to Earth the historic news of 'one giant leap for mankind.'
'The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to,' Armstrong once said.

Lunar landing: Astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, and Buzz Aldrin, right, place an American flag on the lunar surface as taken from the Eagle Lunar Module

The moonwalk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race that began October 4, 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, a 184-pound satellite that sent shock waves around the world.
Although he had been a Navy fighter pilot, a test pilot for NASA's forerunner and an astronaut, Armstrong never allowed himself to be caught up in the celebrity and glamor of the space program.
'I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer,' he said in February 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. 'And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession.'
However, his Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight.
The following year he was appointed to a desk job, being named NASA's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology.
He left NASA a year later to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.  The procession leaves the crossing in the nave at the conclusion of the memorial service for Neil Armstrong, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington DC

From left, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin - with space design tie - Annie Glenn, astronaut John Glenn and singer Diana Krall look on during a memorial service for astronaut Neil Armstrong at the National Cathedral in Washington

Carol Armstrong, the wife of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, is presented with a flag by NASA administrator Charles Bolden, left, and a bagpiper plays at the service, right

Mourners who packed the vast cathedral to mark Armstrong's death last month heard him described as embodying the best of American values and a dedicated pilot

Yesterday, mourners packed the vast National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.to mark Armstrong's death last month.
They heard him described as embodying the best of American values and a dedicated pilot who shunned the limelight after the historic moon landing in 1969.

'He embodied all that is good and all that is great about America. Neil, wherever you are, you again have shown us a way to the stars.'

-Last man on the moon Eugene Cernan

'He embodied all that is good and all that is great about America. Neil, wherever you are, you again have shown us a way to the stars,' Eugene Cernan, the last man on the moon as the commander of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, said in a tribute from the pulpit.
'As you soar through the heavens where even eagles dare not go, you can now truly put out your hand and touch the face of God.'
The service included the Navy hymn Eternal Father Strong To Save and the Frank Sinatra standard Fly Me To The Moon performed by Grammy-winning jazz performer Diana Krall.
'Fly me to the moon, let me swing among those stars, let me see what spring is like, on Jupiter and Mars,' Krall sang as she accompanied herself on a piano.

The incredible journey: On July 16, 1969, with Neil Armstrong waving in front, the space crew heads for the van that will take them to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center

Fly me to the moon: Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Buzz Aldrin

On top of the world: Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, Michael Collins, centre, and Edwin Buzz Aldrin, right, smile through the window of the mobile quarantine van

Armstrong, who died last month in Ohio at age 82, walked on the moon in July 1969.
'He's now slipped the bonds of Earth once again, but what a legacy he left,' former Treasury Secretary John Snow told the gathering.
Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and Mercury astronaut John Glenn and about two dozen members of Congress were among the estimated 1,500 people in the cavernous cathedral.
A moon rock that the Apollo 11 astronauts gave the church in 1974 is embedded in one of its stained glass windows.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said Armstrong's humility and courage 'lifted him above the stars'.
Bolden read a letter from President Barack Obama saying, 'the imprint he left on the surface of the moon is matched only by the extraordinary mark he left on ordinary Americans'.