Neil Armstrong dead at 82

CINCINNATI, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at age 82, his family said in Ohio.

The family said Armstrong died following complications from cardiovascular procedures, CBS News reported.

The family said besides being a loving family man, Armstrong was "a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job."

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped onto the lunar surface, he radioed back to Earth, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Afterwards he spent three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the report said..

NBC said Armstrong and his wife Carol married in 1999, and lived in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill. Armstrong largely stayed out of public view.

Armstrong had just celebrated his 82nd birthday when a stress test earlier this month in a Cincinnati area hospital revealed problems, and surgeons performed a quadruple bypass.

Fellow Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan told NBC News Armstrong's wife told him her husband's spirits were high and doctors were confident there would be no problems with recovery.