RIP: Neil Armstrong

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

A true hero -- an American hero and a hero to all mankind.

I wish I had been alive to see his moonwalk happen, because, at this rate, I'm guessing I'll never see anything even close to that amazing in my lifetime.

I recently read that no one born after 1935 has ever walked on the moon. The youngest man to ever do so, Charles Duke (Apollo 16), turns age 77 later this year. This December will mark the 40th anniversary of the last moon landing.
I can remember watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps onto the moon in 1969. We were visiting relatives in northern Ohio. I watched the blurry images on a small black and white TV set.

[texasdave]

In remembrance.

Lyrics ~ "Man on the Moon" by REM - YouTube

[Wonderful Monds]

I don't normally indulge in these things, but I take so much pride in that Neil Armstrong identified as much as he did with my hometown.

[Roy Tucker]

Saw him reading the paper in a Lebanon OH coffee shop once. I kept looking at him thinking "who *is* that?". The waitress said he like to come here because people leave him alone. Which we did.

Read this and thought it was cool.

http://science.time.com/2012/08/25/r...rnatural-calm/

Armstrong seemed to make peace with that early on — even if he was never entirely comfortable with it. One evening during that Middle East tour, all the astronauts were onstage before an audience of service members young enough to be their grandchildren. During the question-and-answer session, one soldier asked Armstrong if he wouldn’t mind taking the mike and, well, saying the words — the words, those one-small-step words. I winced, and I suspect Lovell and Cernan did too. This was dog-and-pony stuff of the highest order. Armstrong just smiled and reached for the mike. His hand seemed shaky and his voice was weak — not the clear Midwestern tones that were spoken in 1969 and have been heard and heard and heard ever since. But he spoke the words all the same — and the audience roared and the applause rained down, and it was just the coolest and grandest and finest thing you could ever hope to see.

So safe travels, Commander Armstrong. And thank you.