Flags at half mast across US for Armstrong funeral

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Flags flew at half staff across the United States on Friday as family, friends and fellow astronauts gathered in Ohio to remember Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

Four United States (US) Navy F-18 fighter jets flew in a solemn "missing man" formation over the funeral at a private Cincinnati golf club in honour of Armstrong, commander of the historic Apollo 11 mission, who died last Saturday aged 82.

"Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon paved the way for others to be the 'first' to step foot on another planet," said Mr Charles Bolden, head of the US space agency Nasa.

"We have an obligation to carry on this uniquely American legacy," Nasa cited Mr Bolden, a former astronaut, as saying at the funeral.