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 Airport Wapakoneta is the birthplace of Neil Armstrong, aviator, astronaut and first person to walk on the moon. Auglaize County Neil Armstrong Airport covers an area of 140 acres (57 ha) at an elevation of 913 feet (278 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 8/26 is 5,500 by 100 feet (1,676 x 30 m) with an asphalt surface; 18/36 is 2,631 by 80 feet (802 x 24 m) with a turf surface. For the 12-month period ending August 17, 2009, the airport had 29,456 aircraft operations, an average of 80 per day: 94% general aviation, 6% air taxi,