Neil Armstrong in Pictures

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut famed for the words, 'A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind,' has died aged 82. In this gallery we celebrate the achievements of one of the few men in the world who can literally boast a stellar career.

The official NASA portrait of Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 mission.

Armstrong leads out his crew, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, to the rocket on July 16 1969.

The Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo 11 mission blasts off at Cape Kennedy.

The Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Eugene, or 'Buzz', Aldrin.

Armstrong speaks to a technician during a suiting at the Kennedy Space Centre shortly before the moon mission.

A long shot of the lift-off of Saturn V.

Armstrong and Aldrin plant the US flag on the moon's surface. The flag 'is not to be construed as a declaration of national appropriation by claim of sovereignty', according to a law signed by Richard Nixon.

A Parisian family watch as French TV shows Armstrong setting his foot on the moon on 21 July 1969.

Armstrong in chipper mood on the return journey.

The astronauts smile at their wives from their quarantine chamber after their return.

A ticker tape parade in New York awaited the heroes on their return.

Armstrong with his wife, Jan, and son Mark, then 10, in their home in Houston, Texas, a few months before the mission began.

President Richard Nixon meets the astronauts and their wives on 15 August 1969.

One of the defining images of the Apollo 11 mission: a photo of Aldrin by Armstrong, visible in the reflection of Aldrin's helmet.

Portrait of Armstrong in 1959, 10 years prior to the journey that would immortalise him.

(via guardian)