SANDSUKY, Ohio (AP) - Ohio’s U.S. senators want Congress to rename a NASA research facility in Ohio after astronaut Neil Armstrong.

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

Portman says he raised the idea with Armstrong in 2012, a year before Armstrong’s death. The senator says Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, wasn’t comfortable with the attention it would bring.

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

Brown says it would be a fitting tribute given Armstrong’s contributions as a test pilot and astronaut.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.