Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong prepares to put on his helmet with the assistance of a spacesuit technician during suiting operations in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) prior to the astronauts’ departure to Launch Pad 39A. (NASA)
Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who became first to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 11, has died. He was 82 years old.
Armstrong had heart surgery several weeks ago, and a statement from his family said he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.
“Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” his family said. “He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. … He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits.”
On July 20, 1969, half a billion people — a sixth of the world’s population at the time — watched a ghostly black-and-white television image as Armstrong backed down the ladder of the lunar landing ship Eagle, planted his left foot on the moon’s surface, and said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Twenty minutes later his crewmate, Buzz Aldrin, joined him, and the world watched as the men spent the next two hours bounding around in the moon’s light gravity, taking rock samples, setting up experiments, and taking now-iconic photographs.
“Isn’t this fun?” Armstrong said over his radio link to Aldrin. The third member of the Apollo 11 crew, Michael L. Collins, orbited 60 miles overhead in the mission’s command ship, Columbia. President Richard Nixon called their eight-day trip to the moon “the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation.”
Armstrong’s step fulfilled a challenge laid down by an earlier president, John F. Kennedy, in May 1961. Struggling in his first months in the White House, Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth,” he said. “No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
An era is passing.
This new era must be redefined before Obama sells America completely down the river.
Greg
12 years ago
Throughout his life, Neil Armstrong made it a point never to allow his name to be used politically.
Ditto
12 years ago
We need more role models like Armstrong to inspire today’s youth, and a re-establishment of manned space missions to give them the same hope that one day we will reach the stars.
VoteOutIncumbents
12 years ago
According to Brietbart…NBC initially reported Armstrong’s death as being that of “Neil Young”. Apparently their levels and levels of fack checkers mixed up the astronaut with the rock singer.
Sounds like NBC.
Jim S
12 years ago
A sad day for us all
mmercier
12 years ago
I like Neil Young as much as Neil Armstrong. Watched that live on teevee that day… had strep throat and icecream that day.
It amuses me that the heads from the sixties blew this one out the gate of their geriatric gentrified gated communities… and no one noticed.
Prayers for his family.
An era is passing.
This new era must be redefined before Obama sells America completely down the river.
Throughout his life, Neil Armstrong made it a point never to allow his name to be used politically.
We need more role models like Armstrong to inspire today’s youth, and a re-establishment of manned space missions to give them the same hope that one day we will reach the stars.
According to Brietbart…NBC initially reported Armstrong’s death as being that of “Neil Young”. Apparently their levels and levels of fack checkers mixed up the astronaut with the rock singer.
Sounds like NBC.
A sad day for us all
I like Neil Young as much as Neil Armstrong. Watched that live on teevee that day… had strep throat and icecream that day.
It amuses me that the heads from the sixties blew this one out the gate of their geriatric gentrified gated communities… and no one noticed.
Heart of gold live on utube now.