TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Ohio’s two U.S. senators plan on asking Congress to rename a NASA research facility in northern Ohio after astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown want to honor the Ohio native by renaming the NASA Plum Brook Station in Sandusky.

Portman says he talked about the idea with Armstrong a year before his death in 2012. But the senator says Armstrong was so humble that he balked at the suggestion.

Portman says he has since talked with Armstrong’s family and NASA and that they support renaming the facility.

Brown says it would be a fitting tribute, with this weekend marking the 50th anniversary of Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.