How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

No place, October 22, 1962. Printed oblong sheet, 8.5 x 11 in. (216 x 279 mm). Official NASA-printed document, accomplished in type, certifying that "Neil Armstrong Has Completed The Course of Study In The Flight Controllers Course Number 104..." With facsimile signatures of Christopher Kraft, John Hodge, and one other. Lightly creased; scattered foxing; two bands of offsetting. Encapsulated and certified by Collectibles Authentication Guaranty.

First man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong's personal certification for the completion of the Flight Controllers Course, issued just one month after his joining the NASA Astronaut Corps.

After his graduation from Purdue, Armstrong became an experimental test pilot for the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA). He officially became an employee of NASA when it was established in 1958. When Project Mercury began to take applications for the program, Armstrong was not eligible due to his status as a civilian test pilot. This requirement was waived in 1962 for Project Gemini, and he was selected alongside Elliot See as the first civilians recruited for a NASA program. He would serve on, or in the backup crews of, Gemini 5, 8, and 11, as well as Apollo 9, before his appointment to the command of Apollo 11, in December of 1968.

A remarkable piece of space memorabilia, from the Armstrong Family Collection.