Astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82.

A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind."

The moonwalk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race that began Oct. 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.

Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972.

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  Apollo 11 commander Neil A. Armstrong is shown inside the Lunar Module while on the lunar surface, July 20, 1969. (AP / NASA)

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  Astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., place an American flag on the surface of the moon, near the lunar lander that brought them to the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. (AP / NASA)

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  In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface. (NASA)