MSNBC Breaking: Neil Armstrong has died

[hlthe2b]

Last edited Sat Aug 25, 2012, 03:36 PM - Edit history (1)

On MSNBC: 82 years old and died after heart surgery.





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

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died Saturday, weeks after heart surgery and days after his 82nd birthday.

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 married, Carol, in 1999 and made their home in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill, but he has largely stayed out of public view in recent years.

--a little more at the link, but not much... Clearly this has taken all by grim surprise--

On edit, other outlets starting to get tributes up: Here from ABC:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/neil-armstrong-man-moon-dead/story?id=12325140#.UDkn9KArlVc

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."

[Ter]

1. What?!?

No!

[hlthe2b]

2. Sadly yes... this appears totally unexpected... No links yet

[Fumesucker]

3. One small step for a man..

RIP Neil.

[Faygo Kid]

4. Wow!!

Holy shit!!

[jimlup]

5. Wow! Marks the end of an age...

[monmouth]

6. This is a national hearbreak. RIP Neil..n/t

[Aristus]

7. Oh, no...

I don't have the words. He was a hero of mine since I was, oh, 5 or 6...

Safe passage, Mr. Armstrong. Time to place your footprint in new soil...

[hlthe2b]

8. Me too.. Getting choked up listening to the spokesperson on MSNBC talking by phone about him...

Pass peacefully, Sir

[Blue Idaho]

9. This is a sad day...

RIP Neil - you were amazing.

[Ohio Joe]

10. RIP - nt

[CabCurious]

11. RIP... a name to remember forever

[hlthe2b]

12. It appears to have been a complication two or three weeks after having heart surgery...

Damn.

[lunatica]

13. He was one of the good guys

A true pioneering American Hero. This is a sad passing. He should have seen a man landing on Mars in his lifetime. I'm sorry for all of us that he didn't.

His feat was one of the brightest highlights of our American history. Truly a giant step for mankind.

I wish we had the opportunity for more of those days. Instead we have a party that wants to take us backwards to our dark times.

[rdking647]

14. Thats one giant loss for mankind

[alphafemale]

15. Godspeed

And if there are people here a thousand years from now? They will still be speaking your name. They may think you sang Cinnamon Girl. But is that such a Bad Thing?

[hfojvt]

16. probably broke his heart

what happened to his grandson, Lance.

[hlthe2b]

21. Lance is not his grandson... They are not related.

But seeing the decimation of manned spaceflight program, may well have broken his heart.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Much Respect for Neil Armstrong. Hard to "recommend" a great loss. RIP. nt

[PCIntern]

18. This is of great historical significance.

I was 16 when he stepped onto the moon. My God, they're all leaving… how fast this life went by.

[HappyMe]

19. Oh no!

Rest in peace.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. NBC is calling him 'Neil Young' in the title and URL

WTF?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

35. "Harvest Moon," first man on the moon - what's the difference, really?

As Americans, we can also be proud of Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins for their amazing work as Crazy Horse.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

44. Meanwhile Drudge has a photo of Aldrin up

what a hack

[hlthe2b]

49. Seems to be what happens when they turn all this over to interns who

clearly didn't even know who he was.

>>No slam intended to our younger members who actually have valued the opportunity to be educated on issues before your time<<. truly.

[ewagner]

22. Very sad news.

He was a true American hero...

Braved the unknown at a time when Space Travel wasn't "ho-hum"...blazed a trail for others...

[Arugula Latte]

23. Somehow his death makes me feel the decline of this country even more.

We used to be able to do great things and we had a thriving middle class, and now we can't even pay for our kids to go to college and we can't afford to get sick and we can't afford to retire.

Rest in Peace Mr. Armstrong.

[randome]

38. No offense intended.

But you could keep such depressing thoughts to yourself and instead have his death remind you of how much humanity has accomplished and how much we can still do.

There is nothing beyond us if we put our minds to it. Nothing.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. Where were you when he stepped on the moon?

If you were alive back then you probably have it permanently etched into your memory. The whole world was watching and for a brief moment during the Cold War it felt a little warmer in a good way. I was attending my first year of college in Paris, France at the American College In Paris and the entire nation of France came to a standstill to watch the TV.

RIP my friend.

[CottonBear]

30. I was 6 years old in Chattanooga, TN. I remember it like it was yesterday.

My parents let me sleep on the couch in the den and then they woke me when the lander was landing.

I am so grateful that I was able to see the moon landing and the first moon walk.

[proReality]

33. Sitting at a summer cottage with friends

Four months before my wedding. We all sat in front of the TV and watched him land, then walk onto the moon's surface. I remember getting teary.




edit for spelling

[CottonBear]

37. What a wonderful memory. A hopeful & joyous prelude to your marriage!

I so miss the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s space program. I was a space nerd during the 1970s. I miss the sense of excitement, hope and exploration that the space program gave us.

[hlthe2b]

36. Happy times with my parents--still had a black and white tv, which of course didn't matter...

Happy times. My Mom was so fascinated with both space and sea. Had I ever been able to get Jacques Cousteau and Neil Armstrong together for dinner, she'd have simply collapsed in ecstasy. How I miss those days.

[dixiegrrrrl]

53. I was a young Mom of 2 pre-schoolers.

I took them outside on that evening and we looked up at the Moon and I talked to them about it.
Dunno if they remembe that..will have to ask them.

[Laurian]

25. Godspeed to a fellow Ohioan.

That he and John Glenn are both from Ohio has been a source of real pride for my home state.

[grantcart]

26. He had a dry sense of humor.

Once asked if he maintained his fitness after he was an astronaut by continuing to run he said, "I believe that you are given a fixed number of steps on Earth and if you run alot you are just using up your set number of steps faster".

[hlthe2b]

28. LOL... I like that...

That's why I walk.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. That's a shock - I didn't realize he was that old

but I guess you lose track of time over the years, and famous people sort of freeze in your memory until you realize that they get old, too.

I remember that day so well.

RIP.

[Faygo Kid]

29. To quote the Tin Man, Now I know I have a heart. Because I feel it breaking.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

41. That's a great quote.....I feel mine breaking too...

[hfojvt]

31. always amazing to me that Wiki has like a death brigade to update their site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong

I was a huge fan of Armstrong, first because he was like the #1 astronaut, and second, he had the same first name as my dad.

Back in 1999 when I was driving to NY to visit my mother's home town, I heard on the radio that they were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the moon landing in Armstrong's home town. I pulled over and checked the map, and it was like ten miles south of the road I was on - but 30 miles or so back. Crap. If I had known about it, I would have driven the twenty miles, but as it was I did not want to go back 40 miles.

One of those things maybe Siri could have tipped me off to.

[Iggo]

32. Spaceman!

[PD Turk]

34. Godspeed Neil

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.


Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF

[gulliver]

39. RIP

My dad took us out to look at the moon that night.

[hlthe2b]

40. ONE GIANT LOSS FOR MANKIND: (HuffPO finally gets a headline right)....

[Wilms]

42. Thanks for that last photo you added to the OP.

It's a favorite of mine.

[cherokeeprogressive]

43. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

RIP Mr. Armstrong, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts, not so much for taking that Small Step but more so for taking that Giant Leap. Such bravery! I fear the world shall never again see the depth of bravery exhibited by you and your peers. Into the unknown you went, and after slaying the dragons, you returned safely. You were living proof that nothing is impossible, and while many thousands gave their very best for you to get there, it was YOU who took the risk. No doubt the world is a better place for having been graced with your presence and your willingness to do what had never been done before.

I sat on my knees in the middle of my Grandpa's living room and my heart swelled with pride. At that moment, I knew, I knew what I was going to do when I grew up. Lo and behold; a young boy of 8, full of wonder, had no idea of the sacrifice and discipline it must have taken to achieve such lofty things. History has shown that very few had what it took to follow you on your journey.

You gave literal meaning to that line from Robert Browning's poem.

That you took medals commemorating the lives of Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov is a testament to your humility, as is your refusal to seek monetary gain for your exploits.

Godspeed Mr. Armstrong, and thank you again. Your name shall live forever in the hearts of men and women the world over.

Rest In Peace.

[Faygo Kid]

45. +1

Beautifully said.

[Surya Gayatri]

54. Beautifully said...thank you, CP.

[glowing]

46. It would figure that the first man on the moon

would die the same year NASA ended it's shuttle launch program (or was that last yr?) but also the same year we landed an um-manned craft on Mars.

[malaise]

47. How sad - how he influenced our lives

Amazing that he chose to die when the anti-science morons are gathering.

[Surya Gayatri]

48. Be safe on your final flight, Neil...

A day history was truly made and the world held its collective breath...

[smirkymonkey]

50. So sad.

RIP Mr. Armstrong. We will miss you.

[blogslut]

51. I always liked him best

Rest in Peace, dear sir.

[woo me with science]

52. Rest in peace.