Neil Armstrong Dead; Apollo 11 Astronaut Was First on Moon

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: NBC

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 hiw 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.

He spoke at Ohio State University during a February event honoring fellow astronaut John Glenn and the 50th anniversary of Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. In May, Armstrong joined Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida to support the opening of The National Flight Academy, which aims to teach math and science to kids through an aviation-oriented camp.

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

[phantom power]

1. :(

[Missycim]

2. God speed

RIP Neil Armstrong

[WallaceRitchie]

3. RIP Neil Armstrong

He was a hero, not only to America but also the world. He showed us all that ANYTHING was possible.

[NYC Liberal]

4. "We came in peace for all mankind"

[center][/center]

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

85. Enhanced video of moon walk

Someone erased the original and recorded over it. It took quite a while for NASA to locate a copy. They went to a special effects house and used new imaging technologies to enhance the tape to be released for the 40th anniversary.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Much Repect for Neil Armstrong. RIP. nt

[elbloggoZY27]

6. Man In Space

If this is confirmed I am so sorry to learn that Neil Armstrong has died.

Watching the First Moon Landing to the the Mar's Rover are monumental science events and also learning that there is a Galaxy Cluster some 5.7 Billion Light Years away that exists.

In Neils memory we need to keep these dreams alive and know what America can do anything. Progress trumps Regression any time.

[Vidar]

7. Damn it to hell. I hope you've gone to a better place, Neil.

[rdking647]

8. One Giant loss for mankind........

[PopeOxycontinI]

9. A reminder....

of a time when our society had the will to spend some money
and brainpower on things besides endless war. RIP.

[2ndAmForComputers]

69. Die, troll, die.

[cali]

70. ooh, it's a little piece of dogshit freeper

go back to fucking your dog or whatever it is sickos like you do.

[emulatorloo]

71. Did your mama raise you to be such a foul-mouthed ignorant asshole?

I seriously doubt she did.

You seem like a self-made ignorant asshole.

[pinto]

78. (aside) Were any of these three responses necessary? Geez. The post was alerted & hidden.

MIRT banned the poster.

I realize the responses were probably before the alert and jury decision, yet what's the point of such comments? Tacky doesn't reflect well on DU as a whole, imo.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

81. Did you alert the responses?

[2ndAmForComputers]

95. Short answer: yes.

Long answer: hell yes.

[jimlup]

10. CNN still hasn't reported it and it has been on the wires well over 20 minutes...

Man I don't know I bother to even check that site anymore.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. They are useless. n/t

[valerief]

28. They might not know who he is. nt

[lastlib]

76. CNN--Certainly Not News

[Major Hogwash]

11. He was a great hero for this country.

What a life he led!!
What a man!

[zonkers]

39. Icon of my youth. Tear in my eye. What a big brave dude. Love to everyone on this incredible

journey called life who is feeling a bit sad right now.

[FatIrishBastard]

57. Hear Hear!

Here was a Man, who just a year ago, while fighting the fight of his life, in the middle of the great Union busting rage, had the guts to say to my fellow Ohioans: "We here in Ohio, in hard times, do NOT turn our backs on our good, decent, hard working Buckeye Brothers & Sisters". To Friendship 7, all the best.

[zonkers]

82. To Friendship Seven.

[Major Hogwash]

94. Me too, man.

I grew up wanting to be an astronaut.

[struggle4progress]

12. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on moon, dies at age 82 (NBC)

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

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Thanks for the link - I've put it in the OP

(I wasn't going to put the 'Neil Young' link they put up at first in ...)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Greatest Respect for Neil Armstrong. Great dignity, super skillful. RIP. . . . nt

[kestrel91316]

15. I'm terribly sad to hear this.

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. Neil Armstrong's speech at the 25th anniversary celebration at the white house.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1994

Thank you, Mr. Vice President, Mr. President, members of Congress, fellow astronauts, ladies and gentlemen.

Wilbur Wright once noted that the only bird that cold talk was the parrot, and he didn't fly very well. So I'll be brief. This week America has been recalling the Apollo program and reliving the memories of those times in which so many of us here, colleagues here in the first rows, were immersed. Our old astrogeology mentor, Gene Shoemaker, even called in one of his comets to mark the occasion with spectacular Jovian fireworks. And reminding us once again of the power and consequence of celestial extracurricular activities.

Many Americans were part of Apollo, about one or two in each thousand citizens, all across the country. They were asked by their country to do the impossible--to envisage the design and to build a method of breaking the bonds of earth's gravity and then sally forth to visit another heavenly body. The principal elements--leaving earth, navigating in space and descending to a planet unencumbered with runways and traffic control--would include major requirements necessary for a space-faring people.

Today a space shuttle flies overhead with an international crew. A number of countries have international space programs. During the space age we have increased our knowledge of our universe a thousand-fold.

Today we have with us a group of students, among America's best. To you we say we have only completed a beginning. We leave you much that is undone. There are great ideas undiscovered, breakthroughs available to those who can remove one of the truth's protective layers. There are many places to go beyond belief. Those challenges are yours--in many fields, not the least of which is space, because there lies human destiny.


RIP

[rdking647]

17. hope eyrie

[elbloggoZY27]

21. Great Picture

I watched with my late Uncle the landing on the moon as it happened.

Thanks for the above.

[a geek named Bob]

30. Makes me want to rustle up

1.) a shipping tag
2.) 1 liter of sea water

time to take some part of our heroes back there.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. R.I.P. to an ultimate pioneer

Thank you for your service and God's speed to you.

[Ron Obvious]

20. We overuse the word 'hero'...

but, if you get a chance, visit the Air & Space Smithsonian in DC sometime and stand next to the actual Apollo 11 capsule. Then imagine travelling through space in that tiny tin can with thousands of pounds of liquid explosive underneath you. These men were heroes.

RIP Neil, from one of many youngsters who were thrilled on that day.

[NYC Liberal]

27. The even more amazing thing is that they managed to get back.

It's one thing to shoot off into space from Earth with all the resources of the world, but to get back entirely on your own from 350,000 miles away, with no one or nothing to help if something goes wrong, is unbelievable.

[Ron Obvious]

52. Absolutely right

I used to merely envy him until I saw the Apollo 11 capsule, and the magnitude of their courage really sank in. To be all alone up there on that barren rock... Unbelievable... I'd never have had the courage.

<-- This will be the only time in my posting history on DU you'll ever see me do that.

[Major Hogwash]

96. We were glued to the tv that entire weekend.

My dad couldn't believe it.
When he was born they were still flying biplanes and barnstorming around the country.
That was right after WWI.

I thought that my grandfather wouldn't be interested in the moon mission at all since he was so old.
Boy, was I wrong about that.
He was born before the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk.
He told me that when he was younger he paid a dime to get a ride in the back seat of a biplane at a traveling "air fair" that went through their area near the farm he was raised on.
He went on his first flight before he was even 20 years old.
Turns out he was a pretty gutsy old guy.

[ozone82]

22. Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth..

"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 wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

[nolabear]

61. Thank you.

I hate to see this lovely piece mostly at the deaths of flyers, but it is absolutely fitting and moving. Welcome to DU.

[Danmel]

23. just reported on ny times website

I was 9 at the time of the moon landing. We were in upstate ny in the mountains at a bungalow colony & didnt have a tv. And the kids had a curfew. My mother, all 4' 9" of her, went to the home of the owners and basically demanded that they let all the families in the bungalow.colony in to their.house to watch the moon landing. And she did and we sat on the floor in her living room & watched Neil Armstrong take that step onto the moon.
Learned a lot of lessons from that, from Pres. Kennedt, from Neil Armstrong & from my mon. RIP Neil. Say hi to my mom for me.

[lapfog_1]

24. Good luck, Mr. Gorsky...

a great story, even if not true.

[MADem]

91. That was a singularly hilarious urban legend, I must say...

For those who do not understand the reference, it harks to a fake story/joke about Neil Armstrong--one of those "don't let facts get in the way of a rip roaring tale" type deals:

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.asp

[WilliamPitt]

25. CNN just reported it, 3:43 pm EST

[Arctic Dave]

26. A real hero for mankind.

RIP and thank you for your service while you walked this Earth and Beyond.

[niyad]

29. requiescat in pacem, neil armstrong and thank you.

[glacierbay]

31. RIP Neil Armstrong

you were a trailblazer.
I still remember where I was that day and it wasn't in the US.

[Ikonoklast]

32. Godspeed.

A reminder that we did great things at one time.

[vlyons]

33. Do you remember where you were when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon?

My husband and I, and a friend went camping in Cloudcroft NM to have a white Christmas. We drove into town, can't remember if we were in the lobby of a hotel, restaurant, or bar, but it had a TV. We watched the whole landing. Later that night out in the woods back at out tent, looking up at the moon in the silent night sky with snow all around and coyotes howling in the distance was quite magical.

[muriel_volestrangler]

44. A white Christmas in NM in July?

Perhaps that was Apollo 8 going round the moon?

[Mr.Bill]

47. White Christmas?

I think you may be confusing Apollo 8, which orbited but did not land on the moon, with Apollo 11. Apollo 8 took place around Christmas, while the landing of Apollo 11 took place in the month of July. Both were huge events. Apollo 8 was when they read from the bible as they orbited the moon. A stirring, emotional event, even for an Atheist like myself.

[TahitiNut]

65. On an all-expense paid year-long tour of Southeast Asia.

[YankeyMCC]

34. Another step and now we'll have to miss you

Thank you sir for all the dreams and excitement you planted in my mind.

[secondvariety]

35. That took

a lot of guts to do what they did.

[gademocrat7]

36. Rest in Peace, Sir.

[bananas]

37. "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Seems so far away and long ago.
Was it such a great leap forward if we never walk on the moon again?

[LadyHawkAZ]

38. :,(

[hunter]

40. Proudest day of my grandfather's life was when Armstrong walked on the moon.

My grandpa was one of the many, many engineers who made it possible, but it was Armstrong and his fellow astronauts who had the guts to ride that dragon.

[Proles]

41. That sucks.

He was a great inspiration in my early childhood for my interest in space, and eventual interest in aviation.

Even read is biography.

Definitely sad, but at least he lived a long, full life.

RIP

[WheelWalker]

42. And the wheel turns...

God speed, Neil.

[rdking647]

43. a statement from his family

"Next time you walk outside on a clear night & see moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong & give him a wink."

[hifiguy]

46. That is a lovely and appropraite memorial.

[non sociopath skin]

60. Snif

May he sleep well.

The Skin

[hifiguy]

45. Sad to hear. The astronauts of the 1960s and 70s

were incredibly brave men, quite literally going where no one had gone before.

How many people would have the colossal fortitude to, as some wag once put it, sit on a machine consisting of millions of parts, all made by the lowest bidder?

RIP, Sir. Your name and accomplishments will be remembered as long as the human race endures.

[burrowowl]

48. RIP!

May you explore the universe!

[allan01]

49. re:Neil Armstrong Dead; Apollo 11 Astronaut Was First on Moon

silent key . on edit : ( silent key . ham radio lingo for a person who has passed away)
a real patriot , not a patriot wannabee, ie a teabagger.. this man truly served his country in more ways than one .

[NYC Liberal]

50. Apparently it was caused by complications from the surgery.

Damn.

[raccoon]

83. I wonder if he hadn't had the surgery, he might've lived longer.

Who knows?

He was one of my heroes.

[DainBramaged]

51. A great President with vision enabled a great man to make history everlasting

Great men with vision............someday they will again visit upon us


Rest in Peace Mr. Armstrong, you done good.

[Jack Rabbit]

53. I remeber Armstrong putting his foot on the moon

Walter Cronkite was excited and just said, "Wow!" Wally Schirra wept on the air.

[joshcryer]

54. :(

Musk didn't get to talk to him before he went.

[kentuck]

55. A Giant

RIP

[Botany]

56. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins



Neil went on to teach engineering and math @ the University of Cincinnati and went out of his
way to live a good and private life. Godspeed Neil! Lots of us rode along w/ you to the moon
in 1969.

[Diclotican]

58. muriel_volestrangler

muriel_volestrangler

I was not born when Neil Armstrong landed at the moon - It was 7 year before I was born.. But he is one of my great heroes of all time - even bigger than some of my other heroes...

Rest in peace Dear Neil Armstrong - you have deserved it - and I hope you will have a nice journey to where you are on your way to now.. Thank you for what you did - for a young kid who was not born when you did your "A small step for me - but a great leap for mankind " speech - But who was troll spelled when he first discovered the man - and what he did.. And he still troll spelled my with what he, and others who walked on the moon - and who also have being great feats for all of us out there in space...

I just envy the ones, who will trail in his path - to the Moon, to Mars - and beyond the next 100 or so years - To boldly go, where no man have been, to paraphrase another science fiction series who also have inspired many over the least 50 years..

Diclotican

[sarge43]

59. CAVU sir and thank you.

As long as we look to the stars, you will not be forgotten.

[nolabear]

62. One of the last true wave of pioneers, at least for now. RIP to a great man.

[Surya Gayatri]

63. He has lifted off for the final

flight. Safe voyage, Neil. You served well.

[avebury]

64. K&R nt

[chknltl]

66. First man ever to set foot on another heavenly body

It was an honor to shake his hand when the Apollo 11 crew came to Berlin shortly after their successful journey to the moon and back.

[sofa king]

68. Remember this: Neil landed it.

After all the hard work of half a million Americans, when it came to the final approach for the first lunar landing it was Neil who made the decision to take over from a computer less able than your phone and thus avoided a rocky area that could have easily foiled the mission and sent Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to an early grave.

It was Armstrong's human decision, under the highest possible pressure, which made all the difference.

What can you say about that, other than, "excellent!"

[GliderGuider]

72. Hats off, sir. You made our dreams come true.

[Warren DeMontague]

73. One of Humanity's Great Explorers.

Rest In Peace.

[Cooley Hurd]

74. This is one death that is getting to me...

He was a personal hero of mine.

Cross gently, Neil.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

75. Statement from President Obama:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Neil Armstrong.

Neil was among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time. When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable - that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible. And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten.

Today, Neil's spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown - including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space. That legacy will endure - sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step.

[rachel1]

77. Rest in Peace, Mr. Armstrong

you're a true inspiration to all of us.

[FailureToCommunicate]

79. Godspeed Neil Armstrong. We are 'left behind' like your flight mate Michael Collins...

Jethro Tull: "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me"

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[truthisfreedom]

80. My parents awakened me to watch it on our little portable black and white tv. I remember hearing

his words as he stepped off the ladder, and the announcer (Cronkite?) repeating them so I could understand. I was 9... it all seemed so completely incredible. I watched them plant the flag and could tell that it was wired to stay upright.

RIP Neil, you are one of our greatest American heroes.

[jsr]

84. History will always remember him

Last edited Sun Aug 26, 2012, 11:46 PM - Edit history (1)

The first human being to step onto another world.
R.I.P.

[Frank Cannon]

86. The term "hero" is overused.

But it absolutely applies to this man in every way. He was legendary even among his fellow astronauts for his talent, courage, and cool head under pressure.

God speed you on to the stars, Neil Armstrong. Thank you for one of the most memorable moments in my lifetime.

[cbdo2007]

87. RIP Mr. Armstrong :(

You are one of everyone's heroes. Thank you for your service to the country!

[7wo7rees]

88. RIP Neil

He was my first TV memory.
He was a fraternity member that I bragged about.
My great-uncle was the architect for his museum in Wapakoneta Ohio.

[tawadi]

89. Sad

[Odin2005]

90. OH NO! :(

[Skeptical George]

92. Remember when we could DO things?

Even at a time of political division?

Neil, I'm an agnostic, but Godspeed, sir!

[ButterflyBlood]

93. As XKCD once reminded us...

(of course the Chinese might drive those projected numbers up in the 2020s, so who knows.)

RIP.

[daleo]

97. That's a shame

Quite a life, though.