Neil Armstrong headed back to the heavens

R.I.P., Neil.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/25/13478643-astronaut-neil-armstrong-first-man-to-walk-on-moon-dies-at-age-82?chromedomain=usnews

MSNBC said: Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died Saturday, weeks after heart surgery and days after his 82nd birthday on Aug. 5. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and he radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." He spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Armstrong and his wife, Carol, married in 1999, made their home in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill, but he had largely stayed out of public view in recent years.

Who cares about this? What are the Kardashians up to today?

Seriously, we have lost one of the last true heros of our time. R.I.P Mr Armstrong.

RIP Neil. Hopefully the view form up there is even better than from the moon.

Too bad. Our country needs heroes like him now more than ever. You will be missed Mr. Armstrong ...

I was 11 years old when he walked on the moon and I still clearly remember watching it.

So long, Neil. Thanks for all you did.

Raise a glass of Tang for the fallen.

He wasn't my hero because he was the first to walk on the moon. He was my hero because he was the first to walk on the moon--and didn't sell out when he returned.

A lesser man would have retired from NASA immediately, and taken a million dollars to say "When I had the first Headache On The Moon, I reached for new Damitol.." on TV. A lesser man would have lined his pockets by hitting the lecture circuit for five-figures an appearance. What did Armstrong do? He became a college professor. That, my friends, is a class act.

He wasn't a bad pilot, either. Read about what is probably the main reason he was selected for the mission.
http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2006/march/i_history.html

guys from that era were made from the right stuff

When I was young, he was my Superhero.

Now this is a sad day.

Godspeed Neil.

JoeyM wrote: guys from that era were made from the right stuff

There are days I could watch that clip of Buzz popping (spit) Sibrel on an endless loop. My favorite aunt was one of the 400,000.

friedgreencorrado wrote: ...He wasn't a bad pilot, either...

He was known for being extremely calm under pressure.

If you listen to him during the Apollo 11 landing you can hear how calm he is as he as he has to find a new landing site before fuel runs out (the original landing site was strewn with boulders). He landed with less then 30 seconds of fuel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VajkWJoi_4s

It seems like the moon missions had interesting effects on the astronauts that went. For Niel, he never talked about it. I am not sure he ever did an interview about his experiences (maybe other then ones right after of course).

This is him almost getting killing in the Lunar Lander Research Vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qhcs6qiHLI

In reply to aircooled:

"60 Minutes" (CBS), 2005. Sorry about the quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnb7sjrB0HM

The Apollo missions were a big part of my childhood. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins- Knowing that third name will win you some trivia competitions....

I will have to find a newspaper that has and article about this and add it to my fathers scrap book of the early space race including clippings about the moon landing.

I remember doing a report about the first moon landing and being able to use those articles and clippings and my teacher was shocked anyone in the class had them.

Sadly, it won't be too many more years until there will be no one left on earth who have ever stood on another planet/moon.

Can't help but think that is pretty sad.

Don't know what they will do with his remains, but they need to go to MARS before anyone else sets foot there.

I was 7 months old in July of 69. Space has always fascinated me. My family worked for Grumman growing up and were always proud of the fact that they worked for the company that built the Lander. Got to see one up close at the 50 anniversary at Calverton.

Never knew him, but he is missed already. Sad day in America.

They entered lunar orbit and powered up the LMP for the final decent to the moon's surface on my 1st birthday.

Apollo 11 Timeline

RIP Neil.

Another piece of my childhood gone.. RIP Mr.Armstrong..

Sorry to keep posting, folks..but this means a lot to me. Previous thread with the story of the aunt I mentioned:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/we-choose-the-moon/12116/page1/

I was 7yrs. old. Eternal thanks to my mom, who kept waking me up to make sure I didn't miss it. If anyone would like to learn more about the program, here's two places to start. First, Andrew Chaikin's fantastic book:

http://www.amazon.com/A-Man-Moon-Andrew-Chaikin/dp/0140272011

And another piece of awesomeness, the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. It's an attempt to document every single word and action that humans performed on the surface of the moon.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/

Okay, I'll shut up now. I think I need to break out my telescope.

I was 7 and remember the landing very well. Godspeed to a global hero.

The first human being ever to walk on another world. Tell me that's not a title that carries some weight.

A true hero for our times has passed away. Rest in peace Neil.

No better icon for the generation, kids like us could only imagine the experience.

Talk about inspiration...

RIP Neil