The 'nerdy engineer' who made history

While chiefly remembered for being the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong preferred to emphasise his technical background once stating: 'I am, and ever will be a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer'. APOLLO 11 crew member Michael Collins once remarked: "The most important qualification for a lunar astronaut was to have been born in 1930." Collins knew that any of a dozen astronauts were equally prepared to make that historic first attempt to land on the Moon, and it was pure luck that he happened to be assigned to that mission as pilot of the orbiting mothership. When it came to deciding who might be best to fly the lunar module as it skittered toward the unknown perils of the surface, Nasa's Astronaut Office invariably chose the calmest and most unflappable pilots. None were calmer than Neil Alden Armstrong.