Neil Armstrong the first manned Moon landing, and spent two and a half hours outside the spacecraft while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module. When Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface, he famously said: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Along with Collins and Aldrin, Armstrong was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon. President Jimmy Carter presented Armstrong with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, and Armstrong and his former crewmates received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. After he resigned from NASA in
Buzz Aldrin 18, 1963. This made him the first astronaut with a doctoral degree. Combined with his expertise in orbital mechanics, it earned him his nickname from his fellow astronauts. "From the outset," Walter Cunningham, a fellow member of the 1963 group, recalled, "Buzz was referred to as 'Dr. Rendezvous' because of his obsession with rendezvous in space." Aldrin was aware that it was not always intended as a compliment. Jim Lovell and Aldrin were selected as the backup commander and pilot respectively of Gemini 10. Backup crews usually became the prime crew of the third following mission, but in this case