Neil Armstrong was a quiet, self-described “nerdy” engineer who became a global hero when as a steely nerved US pilot he made “one giant leap for mankind” with the first step on the Moon.

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said.

A rocket payload which flew briefly into space with ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper and Star Trek actor James Doohan was recovered today in the US’s New Mexico mountains.