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
First Flights with Neil Armstrong First Flights with Neil Armstrong First Flights was a half-hour televised aviation history documentary series. The series premiered on September 25, 1991, on A&E Networks and ran for three seasons. It was hosted by former test pilot and astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. The series initially aired Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on A&E in the U.S. The series focused on the technological history of aviation, from early balloons and gliders through war-time and mass commercial aviation, to experimental hypersonic flight at the edge of space. In the series, Neil Armstrong interviewed pilots and aerospace