Crossing Into Space
In 1957 Armstrong was selected for the ironically named Man In Space Soonest (MISS) program. Then in September of 1963 he was selected as the first American civilian to fly in space. (Russia launched civilian Valentina Tereshkova into space in June of 1963, beating Armstrong to space.)
In 1966 Armstrong flew on the Gemini 8 mission which launched March 16. Serving as Command Pilot, the crew was to complete the first ever docking with another space craft, an unmanned Agena target vehicle. After 6.5 hours in orbit they were able to dock with the craft, but due to complications they were unable to complete what would have been the third ever "extra-vehicular activity" -- now referred to as a space-walk.
Armstrong also served as the CAPCOM -- typically the only person who directly communicates with the astronauts during missions to space -- for Gemini 11. However, it was not until the Apollo program began that Armstrong ventured into space.