Named in honor of Neil Alden Armstrong (1930– ), U.S. astronaut, the first man to set foot on the moon. In 1966 he and David Scott aboard Gemini 8 conducted the first docking in space. In 1969, along with Aldrin and Collins {see planets  (6470) and  (6471)}, he blasted off in Apollo 11 toward the moon, and on July 20 the Eagle module landed on a plain near the southwestern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis. This minor planet commemorates the 30th anniversary of the first manned lunar-landing mission. (M 34623) _ _.