His family said they were “heartbroken” by his death and called him “a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.”

They said he died from cardiovascular surgery complications following a heart-bypass earlier this month. President Barack Obama hailed the astronaut as a “great American hero”. As commander of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, Mr Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. Moments after setting foot on the lunar surface, he uttered the famous quote: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

He then spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

The US space agency tweeted: “Nasa offers its condolences on today’s passing of Neil Armstrong, former test pilot, astronaut & the 1st man on the moon. Neil was 82.”

Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore said: “As the first man on the moon, he broke all records. I knew him well. He was a man who had all the courage in the world.”

Physicist Professor Brian Cox tweeted: “Sad to hear about death of Neil Armstrong. I do think Apollo was the greatest of human achievements. For once, we reached beyond our grasp.”

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