Project Mercury also excluded civilian NASA X-15 pilot Neil Armstrong, though he had been selected by the US Air Force in 1958 for its Man In Space Soonest program, which was replaced by Mercury. Although Armstrong had been a combat-experienced NAP during the Korean War, he left active duty in 1952. Armstrong became NASA's first civilian astronaut in 1962 when he was selected for NASA's second group, and became the first man on the Moon in 1969. It was further stipulated that candidates should be between 25 and 40 years old, no taller than , and hold a college degree in a
Neil Armstrong (ice hockey) wear a cast for three months. On October 16, 1973, Armstrong was honoured in a ceremony at the Detroit Olympia for officiating his 1,314th game, which broke the previous record set by George Hayes. In total, Armstrong officiated a total of 1,744 games and retired in 1978. After retiring, he became a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as an official in 1991. His son, Doug Armstrong, later became General Manager of the Dallas Stars. Following his tenure with Dallas, Doug became the Executive VP and General Manager of the St. Louis