Neil Armstrong dead

[shiny!]

The first man to walk on the moon died today.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...ng-dies-at-82/

"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in February 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."

[Master Shake]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

He was a true American hero.

Here's the statement from his family.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.
Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.

Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati.

He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits.
As much as Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of good will from people around the world and from all walks of life.

While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

[GRG55]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

The first man to walk on the moon died today.

I woke up a few minutes ago this Sunday morning here in Central Asia to this news.

Armstrong was also a superb pilot. His intervention to hand fly the Apollo 11 Lunar Module to avoid the boulder strewn touchdown area in the Sea of Tranquility (that was programmed as the landing target in the computer), and touching down with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining, is well known to anyone familiar with the story of the Apollo missions.

Less well known is how Armstrong's cool-headed thinking and piloting skills recovered Gemini 8 and its two astronauts after the failure of the orbital maneuvering system just after they completed the first ever in-orbit docking of two spacecraft. As an aviation mad kid I used to be glued to the television during each of the Gemini missions arguing with my mom to let me stay up late. At the time Life magazine published a post-splashdown picture of Armstrong and Scott looking up at the rescue helicopter through the open hatches of the capsule after the flotation collar had been attached. I still remember cutting out that picture and gluing it into my scrapbook. From their expressions you'd never know they came so close to losing their lives in space.

I had the privilege of being at the Experimental Aircraft Association annual summer convention and fly-in at Oshkosh in 1994. The EAA gathered at least one astronaut from every Apollo mission that launched to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, including all three astronauts from Apollo 11. One night all the astronauts were gathered together on the EAA's outdoor stage for an evening of reminiscing and fascinating stories (well, fascinating for all of us nuts bitten by the flying bug). Armstrong's famous shyness was on display, as it fell to the ever gregarious Buzz Aldrin to tell us about the exploits of his Mission Commander in those few seconds just before the Eagle landed.

[GRG55]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

He was a true American hero...

...While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

I find it rather sad that the news about Neil Armstrong is accompanied by so many other less-uplifting stories today including the Syrian government's bloody "purification" of the Darayya suburb of Damascus. On a weekend one might ordinarily seek some relief on a sports network...but this week that choice is tainted by what seems obsessive media coverage of that other Armstrong.

BTW, I have posted this before, but one of the best reads about the US space program was written by the Apollo 11 astronaut that didn't walk on the moon; Command Module Pilot Michael Collins' "Carrying the Fire".

[Mega]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

Yes, i normal don't go on "Hero" but no in his case i do........in my mind he was more than that, a sort of "Anti-Hero".....the deadpan delivery of his landing chat with Nixon.......If they done the landing today they pick some Hollywood look-alike.....but they tried that with the Apollo 1 crew.......

Gods speed Neil.

[mooncliff]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

I was a 10-year-old boy when it happened. It was unbelievable, after all the bad things that happened in the '60s... JFK, MLK, RFK, the Vietnam War, the riots... it was the peak of the empire.
It was around noon, I think, in Hawaii... I called my grandparents and my parents... "It's happening! Live broadcast from the Moon!" They all shook their heads in disbelief... My mom said they read Buck Rogers, but never thought something like this would ever happen. It was the golden moment.
And there was Star Trek and 2001.
And Apollo 13... I read in the paper that they could see the cloud from the explosion, so, because I was a child, I was out in the driveway with my telescope looking toward the Moon. My dad came home and walked up the driveway and asked me what I was doing, so I told him and said "They are gonna make it back, right, dad?" And he choked up and shook his head and went into the house.
It is so difficult to explain to young people what it was like. All of it is so passe to them; it all seems so unremarkable and boring.
But, tonight, millions remember the most extraordinary, wonderful thing that had ever happened up until that time.
Everything seemed possible...

I was walking home last night and saw a beautiful half Moon. I just stood there and cried for a long time. An era goes with him. Not that things were not completely screwed up and the 60s were not pure hell, but it was the peak of the empire, and it is now truly all gone...

[shiny!]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

BTW, I have posted this before, but one of the best reads about the US space program was written by the Apollo 11 astronaut that didn't walk on the moon; Command Module Pilot Michael Collins' "Carrying the Fire".

Thanks for the book recommendation. Growing up in San Antonio with family in Houston, we were obsessed with the goings-on at NASA. My parents attended a banquet for the crew of Apollo I just a few weeks before the fatal fire. I remember my mom coming back from Houston telling me how nice Gus Grissom was, and then crying when we heard the news that they had died.

The lunar program drew our country together in a spirit of optimism like nothing else before or since. It inspired a generation of kids to grow up to be scientists and engineers. We need something like that to look forward to now.

[mooncliff]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

From the Earth to the Moon

If you have not seen this, I totally recommend it and have watched it more than ten times over the years... many different ways of looking at the Apollo program... made me want to go out and become a geologist!

I think one of the best episodes is about the wives of the astronauts. It must have been Hell.

And about the Apollo 1 fire. Extraordinary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhZhz...eature=related

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

I was lucky enough to have a Physics professor who co-designed the flight control system used on the Apollo rocket engines.

He described it as a real career highlight, but was very careful to frame it as him being just one small cog in a very large and complex machine.

I was lucky enough to visit the Kennedy Space Center as a young kid in the mid 70's after pestering my parents for a few years with how awesome astronauts are.

It was a real vacation highlight for our family, even though it required traveling more than 1000 miles in a 72 Ford Pinto station wagon.

What I admire most about Neil Armstrong is that while I agree he was a truly superb pilot, he would also be the first person to remind folks he was also just a small cog in a massively complex and beautiful American machine.

Armstrong being the eternal face of the first human to step foot on another world(even if just a satellite of our own planet) is karma....it's fitting.

He represents the very best of us......both as an outstanding astronaut....but also as an outstanding human being....and deserves to be the face that represents the collective achievement of so many.

I can only hope that in my lifetime we see another example of such intense, focused, brilliant, and big projects to turn the impossible into the ordinary.

Until that happens, I fear Apollo 11 will represent the apex of American potential.

[don]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

I was renting a studio apartment in SF when the moon landing occurred. One and only time I rented a television, rabbit ears and all.

[don]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

NASA tribute to Neil: Awake in the Sea of Tranquility

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...ftranquillity/

[Slimprofits]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

What I admire most about Neil Armstrong is that while I agree he was a truly superb pilot, he would also be the first person to remind folks he was also just a small cog in a massively complex and beautiful American machine.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/201...rong-misquoted

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

Professor Neil Armstrong is one of Ohio's favorite sons, he grew up in the town of Wapakoneta, pronounced wah-pah-kə-net-tə.
.
.
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[GRG55]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/201...rong-misquoted

Chuckling to myself...

During the EAA evening I noted in another post on this thread the impish Charles "Pete" Conrad, Mission Commander on Apollo 12 and the third human the walk on the moon, was asked if the reports of his first words when he exited the Lunar Module were true. He replied that after Neil Armstrong nobody was going to remember what anyone else said, so all the pressure was off. Conrad's first word: "Whoopie!"...which was followed by "Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me."

[don]

Re: Neil Armstrong dead

Rocket Man Indeed