Neil Armstrong Passes Away

[LaurieAG]

If you watched the moon landings in the 60's 70's you'll know this guy.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19381098

Edited August 26, 2012 by LaurieAG

[Deepwater6]

Thanks Laurie, - He disliked being called a hero and tried to live a humble life despite all his accomplishments. To go on those early trips must have taken nerves of steel. Blasting off on that equipment must have required complete confidence in your support team. I would hope Armstrong will go down in the history books with the Wright Brothers, and Edison. The first man from our planet to walk on another surface other than Earth, a true milestone in human history.

[CraigD]

I still remember listening to the live broadcast of the Apollo 11 “Eagle” LEM. I was 9 years old. As I recall, it was the most thrilling thing I’d ever heard on TV, a seeming merging of childhood play, science fiction, and history. At the time, the descent and landing seemed very scripted and by-the-book. When I learned, years later, that it was far from it, unexpected alarms from the guidance computer having distracted Armstrong and Aldrin on the descent, and Armstrong semi-hand piloting the Eagle over unexpectedly rubble-strewn terrain, with Aldrin calling out altitude and horizontal and vertical speed, to a safe landing with only 25 sec of fuel remaining, their stature to me as heroes, already great, grew.

 

As the Apollo astronauts die off (of the 12 who walked on the moon, 4 now have already, and the youngest, David Duke, is 76), I fear that, given the lack of enthusiasm for manned space exploration, we may reach a period where there’s no person alive on Earth who has walked on the Moon. I hope we don’t.

 

Buzz Aldrin, now 82, said back in 2010 he’d like to return to the moon, deeming himself too old for his once hoped-for Mars trip. Though it seems unlikely he’ll get his wish, I truly, deeply wish he would.

 

Many serious space exploration enthusiasts these days see manned spaceflight as a drain on the sorely limited budgets available for high-quality unmanned science missions. I’m in the opposing, “budget be damned – it’s important for global human morale” camp.

 

Imagine Aldrin putting the Apollo 11 flag, which recent LRO photos show was blown over by Eagle’s ascent rocket blast (see these posts, back upright. I can’t imagine a better Neil Armstrong memorial ceremony.

[belovelife]

rest in peace