Neil Armstrong died

[Bored@Work]

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

[HLA-27b]

Rest in peace moon man. You changed the world forever.

[Thor-Arne]

A great man, he will be remembered forever.

Rest in peace Neil Armstrong.

[firewalker]

Rest in sp(e)ace Neil.

Alexander.

[tom66]

Tragic, he changed the world forever.

[free_electron]

A small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind. May he forever walk among the stars.

[bullet308]

A great American, and a great human being.

Godspeed.

[ablacon64]

Yes, and a great man also. Because of him I believe the moon travel was real, instead of what some youtube videos say. I believe he would have unmasked the usa government during his life if it was a lie.

[bullet308]

And a man of great personal integrity and character as well.

I still like the way Buzz Aldrin punched that moon hoaxer guy in the nose, though.  Not as dignified, but still, a good show.  :-)

[AntiProtonBoy]

The man rocked, sad to hear him go out.

[T4P]

The moment i came his death on the papers i was like
"One small step for man, One giant leap backward for mankind"
It's just like the dismissal of the concorde 

[whatchitfoool]

And a man of great personal integrity and character as well.

I still like the way Buzz Aldrin punched that moon hoaxer guy in the nose, though.  Not as dignified, but still, a good show.  :-)

How can you call a hero of mankind a coward, liar, and a thief? 
 

[amspire]

I have some old 16mm movie footage of Apollo 10 (9 minutes) and 11 (14 minutes) missions. I will have to drag out the old Bell and Howell projector and take a look to see what is there. I know that the colour will be pretty bad, thanks to Kodak Ektachrome. I remember the colour in the films were originally stunning, but the film now looks very red and faded at the start. I believe the footage was distributed by the Sydney Morning Herald shortly after the moon landing.

Apparently Nasa accidentally wiped the original video tapes of the moonwalk, so it will be interesting to see if the movies include the walk. The thing that NASA want is the original recorded quality, and not the blurry converted-for-tv images that most of us have seen.

Richard.

[djsb]

Feels like the end of one era (landing on the moon) and the beginning of another (the future landing on Mars) with the success of the Curiosity Landing.
Richard, I'd like to see those films of yours if you can ever digitise them.





P.S I should have read about the circumstances of his death before my first comment which I have since removed. My appologies.

[bullet308]

LOL Yeah, Buzz always was the more volatile of the pair...

[Galenbo]

Sad a man died, but I don't understand the overhyping of it.
Sure he did walk on some planet, sure they buit some missile.

But they were +1000 man to do it at Nasa, who cares who got elected to take some footstep on that planet, and when.

I'm more interested in the control and safety mecanisms, eventually the people who developed that.

[saturation]

Yes, I hate to be a naysayer, but I agree with you.  First, my sympathies for his death, it is the clearly the mark of an end of an era, just as with the death of other astronauts from early programs in both Russia and the USA.

But it was a team effort, and probably the engineer in Armstrong recognized that all the attention paid to him for being 'first' was popular hype, but not really the truth.  Clearly, Armstrong did his part that no one else could at the time, he was highly skilled for the task, but had he died or had a mishap enroute, Aldrin was there to substitute.  Had the entire crew been killed, they had backup, and more backup for backups.  Why is so much not discussed about Collins?  Without him and the command module, they'd never get back?   What about all the engineers in NASA supporting the effort, who built the ships, and monitored the flight?  The contractors who provide all the systems?

Armstrong was the tip of an iceberg, but the great bulk of it was underwater. May he RIP.

Sad a man died, but I don't understand the overhyping of it.
Sure he did walk on some planet, sure they buit some missile.

But they were +1000 man to do it at Nasa, who cares who got elected to take some footstep on that planet, and when.

I'm more interested in the control and safety mecanisms, eventually the people who developed that.

[Uncle Vernon]

the way Buzz Aldrin punched that moon hoaxer guy in the nose, though.  Not as dignified, but still, a good show.

Oh I don't know. there is some real dignity in a famous old guy, knocking some sense into the perennially clueless! Punching stupid people should be compulsory. It's a civic duty, too long neglected.

RIP Mr Armstrong! You were walking on the moon when most other countries space programs  consisted of making cows jump!

[Uncle Vernon]

Why is so much not discussed about Collins?

Who? 

[bullet308]

CMPs never get no love.   

[HLA-27b]

Neil Armstrong in his later years accepting yet another award. Please note the words he accepts the award with.




The Apollo program consisted of +400.000 people. Not to mention the politicians, an entire nation that payed the bills and even the Ruskies who started the race to begin with. Media didn't give each and every one of them equal camera time and if there is a fault in that it belongs to the media, not to NASA and certainly not to Neil. My understanding is that all those people in Apollo wholeheartedly accepted him as their representative and spokesman.  To be honest they couldn't have hoped for a better person to do that.

Just had to post this as a reaction to the two slips a few comments above.

[saturation]

Its good you found the original broadcast, the last 1, tops 2 min says it all.  He also said it immediately after the mission ended in 1969:

In the Wikipedia a transcript is given, at bottom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Lunar_ascent_and_return

Despite that, more awards were given by the US government to the Apollo 11 astronauts not the whole program.  Its more than just the press.  Its seems driven to ride their celebrity.  If it were based on facts, the podium should have had all the surviving astronauts as co-recipients, not just Apollo 11.

...Media didn't give each and every one of them equal camera time and if there is a fault in that it belongs to the media, not to NASA and certainly not to Neil. My understanding is that all those people in Apollo wholeheartedly accepted him as their representative and spokesman.  To be honest they couldn't have hoped for a better person to do that.  Just had to post this as a reaction to the two slips a few comments above.

[ampdoctor]

God's speed Neil.  While thousands were involved with your endeavor, you became the symbol that inspired a generation and will continue to inspire for generations to come.

[EEVblog]

Sad a man died, but I don't understand the overhyping of it.
Sure he did walk on some planet, sure they buit some missile.

He walked on a moon, not planet 

And the Apollo space program (and previous enabling programs) is infinitely more than just making a missile.

But they were +1000 man to do it at Nasa, who cares who got elected to take some footstep on that planet, and when.

Because the man had the guts and the skill to do it. Few have that "right stuff".
There is little doubt that all the men who walked on the moon will be dead before the human race does it again. And likely for all the countless people who made it happen dead too. That's not an unimportant fact for the development of the human race.

Our society needs heroes, it needs figureheads, kids need someone to look up to, that's how the world has always worked.

Dave.

[bullet308]

Our society needs heroes, it needs figureheads, kids need someone to look up to, that's how the world has always worked.

Dave.

And Armstrong is a damn-sight more deserving hero than most so elevated in our culture. 

Brave, brilliant, modest...what more do you want?