A new class of U.S. Navy research vessels will bear the name of the late Neil Armstrong, who became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.

“Neil Armstrong rightly belongs to the ages as the man who first walked on the moon,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement today. While he was a true pioneer of space exploration and science, he was also a combat-proven naval aviator. Naming this class of ships and this vessel after Neil Armstrong honors the memory of an extraordinary individual, but more importantly, it reminds us all to embrace the challenges of exploration and to never stop discovering.”

The Navy will use the Armstrong-class AGOR ship for a variety of ocean research projects, including “mapping the deepest parts of the oceans.” In addition to naming the class of ships after Armstrong, the Navy will also give his name to the first ship of the class. His widow, Carol, will sponsor the ship.