It's been said that Neil Armstrong embodied the American dream: coming from a small Ohio town to be the first man on the Moon. As the inhabitants of Langholm, Scotland, know he came from a lot further than that

This weekend the Scottish town of Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, holds a series of events to commemorate the life of Neil Armstrong. Why, you may wonder, is a town of just 2,500 inhabitants celebrating the life of an American astronaut?

The reason is simple: the town claimed Armstrong as one of their own. And he accepted.

Langholm is the traditional seat of Clan Armstrong, making it Neil's ancestral home town. At the time of the moon landing, the town clerk was Eddie Armstrong, who issued the invitation for Neil Armstrong to become the town's first and only Freeman.

To the astonishment of all involved, the moon walker accepted.

He visited in 1972 with his wife to accept the honour. Men, women and children lined the streets to cheer and wave in welcome. At the ceremony address he told the audience, "The most difficult place to be recognised is in one's own home town, I consider this, now, my home town."

Armstrong died on 25 August 2012, aged 82, as a result of complications following bypass surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries. Within days of his death, Langholm representatives began to make requests to the Scottish council to commemorate his life.

Now the commemoration is upon us. A special memorial service will be held in Langholm Parish Church tonight in front of representatives from the English, Scottish and American governments.

There are lectures too. Thursday saw Prof Martin Hendry of Glasgow University debunk the conspiracy theories that say man did not land on the moon. On Saturday afternoon, it will be my turn to talk about the science that came out of the Apollo missions.

The rocks that the astronauts brought back, and the instruments they left on the surface, have immeasurably increased our scientific knowledge.

Much of our understanding about how the planets formed comes from the Apollo moon rocks, which had laid untouched for billions of years since that time. On Earth, restless geological forces have destroyed our planet's oldest rocks.

The Apollo seismometers detected more than 1,700 impacts from meteoroids striking the moon. They also showed that although moonquakes do take place, they are generally small. The Earth releases 10 million times more energy through earthquakes every year.

Perhaps the greatest ongoing experiment is made possible by the mirrors that the astronauts left on the moon. For more than 40 years now, astronomers have been targeting the reflectors with laser beams to precisely measure the movement of the moon.

It is one of the most profound investigations of nature that we have ever made because it allows us to test the predictions of Einstein's General Relativity, the best theory of gravity that we possess, to levels of accuracy totally impossible to achieve in a laboratory on Earth.

The world united as they watched Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong's moon landing in July 1969. Four thousand journalists descended on Nasa to cover the event, a thousand of them were from outside the USA.

By accepting the freedom of Langholm, Armstrong continued to unite the world.

The Clan Armstrong Trust, which is based in Langholm, have reported that his commitment to the town kindled pride in Armstrongs all over the world, and an interest in learning more about their ancestral hometown.

Even if he hadn't walked on the moon that alone would have made Langholm the perfect place to celebrate his life and achievements.

Stuart Clark is the author of The Sky's Dark Labyrinth trilogy (Polygon). He speaks at the Buccleuch Centre, Langholm, on 15 June at 2pm.