Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has died at age 82, NBC News has learned

Twitter | 08/25/12 | Kevin Davis

[chimera]

LM Eagle landed at 4:17:42 pm EDT, so late afternoon on the east coast. You must have been in a different time zone if it was early morning for you. The “first step” onto the lunar surface was at 10:56:20 pm EDT. It was a bit of a late night for those of us watching in NJ, but still worth it to see history happening live before our eyes.

[opentalk]

In a way it is too bad he lived to see the Space program is tatters.

The Movie Obama's America 2016, plays a video of the current new Muslim outreach objective under Obama administration

interview that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden gave to al-Jazeera:

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA’s orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

“When I became the NASA administrator —or before I became the NASA administrator —he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science …

[Lx]

Went Mach 6.7 and they still lost his luggage.

Rest in Peace, you aimed for the moon and realized your goal.

[chimera]

...there was a problem with a thruster jet on Gemini VIII’s spacecraft.

We should remember Armstrong's performance on Gemini 8. That was a serious, serious malfunction and very well could have resulted in our first fatalities in the space program. Armstrong knew exactly what to do. He saved himself, his crew mate, and his ship, and perhaps the whole Gemini program by managing the problem and bringing his spacecraft back safely. When it came to piloting, the guy was as cool as they come, ice water in his veins.

We should also remember his honorable service as a naval aviator who flew combat missions in Korea, and later as a test pilot for the Navy and NASA.

Neil and his first wife, Janet, had the tragedy of losing their young daughter, Karen, at age 2, who died of a brain tumor. I cannot imagine bearing such grief and still continuing on, but I guess it's what you have to do.

[chimera]

That’s one book I have not read, so your information may be more correct than mine. It obviously goes back aways because it is using the “old” numbering system for the manned missions, Apollo 1, 2, etc. After the fire, the unmanned missions filled in the numbering gap between Apollo 1 (the one that burned) and Apollo 7, the eventual first manned mission.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Matt.

[Frank_2001]

True! RIP Neil Armstrong

[dragnet2]

The news channels today are a joke.

Absolutely! Nearly every cable channel should be covering Armstrong's entire life and career...Yet nothing.

It's why I dumped expensive cable..I refuse to pay to watch their never ending commercials which have already been paid for.

I guess the media just can't handle such a historical American hero.

[Nowhere Man]

Maybe by having a large state funeral to honor this man, young people of today will also learn what it used to be like in this country when we dreamed big dreams. The technology we have today is far more advanced than what we used to go to the moon yet we can’t even put a man in orbit anymore. Kind of hard to believe.

A side note, I'm into "alternate history" and on one such site, a scenario was posted a while back about where if three "extra Earths" magically appeared in orbit 90 degrees from another. We'd have our Earth today, the Earth of 1970, 1930 and 1890. The first three Earths can make radio contact, but if we had reason to go from one to another, we of the 2012 Earth might be bumming a ride from the 1970 one because of the Moon landings, their space program would be more "advanced" than ours today. Also even a Commodore 64 (perhaps even a Timex/Sinclair 1000) from 1983 would have more power than the DSKY computers of the CSM/LEM let alone what we have now, they'd be laughing their butts of of us on how very Earthbound we are today.

[theDentist]

History (H2) Channel is broadcasting "Moonshot"... this is the episode of Apollo 11, likely in memory of Astronaut Neil Armstrong. In one scene he was asked by the Press 'why should we go to the moon", and he replied how Mankind faces challenges and meets those challenges in order to grow and surpass our dreams.

Pity we have a President now whose only dream and challenge is how to force more people to live mediocre lives and live off the government teat.

[Road Glide]

“I could say a lot here, because moments like this cause reflection, an assessment of what has just passed, and what our future looks like.”

I’ve considered that the first moonwalk marked the pinnacle of “The West” — not just of the United States in particular, but of western civilization in general.

From there, things have generally been.... downhill.

Oh, there have been a few peaks after 1969. Reagan’s era here in America, and the fall of the Berlin Wall (and communism), are moments that stand out.

But America (as a nation) and The West (as a culture) no longer appear to harbor “the fire within” that drives both nations and cultures to “grow their greatness”. And without that, the rate of decline can increase suddenly.

A major point of change on The West’s bell curve was on September 11, 2001.

A nation (and Western Culture) still in ascendance would have reacted far differently to an opposing culture’s strike at its heart...

Nevertheless, Godspeed, Mr. Armstrong!

[Nowhere Man]

That’s one book I have not read, so your information may be more correct than mine. It obviously goes back aways because it is using the “old” numbering system for the manned missions, Apollo 1, 2, etc. After the fire, the unmanned missions filled in the numbering gap between Apollo 1 (the one that burned) and Apollo 7, the eventual first manned mission.

Apollo 4 was the first test of the Saturn V, an unmanned launch on November 9th, 1967. My grandfather died the same day in Florida and my uncle had to handle the situation until my father could get down there. It was a challenge for my uncle since he worked for NASA and could not get away from the mission until it was done.

[wolfpat]

If you’re a space buff, and I’m pretty sure you are, you ought to read it. In fact, I need to dig around in my boxes of books, and reread it myself.

http://www.amazon.com/Carrying-Fire-An-Astronauts-Journeys/dp/081541028X

[jaydubya2]

I unfortunately don't have the History channel, but I dug up my “From the Earth to the Moon” VHS tapes and plan on watching the Apollo 11 segment tonight.

[stylecouncilor]

Yes! I was lucky enough to meet him once at a party. I was a little shy to ask him if we could take a photo, but he was really gracious.

[MacNaughton]

If memory serves, Armstrong had another brush a couple months before the Apollo 11 flight. He was piloting a jet-powered LEM simulator when it malfunctioned and he had to jettison before it crashed. YouTube video below is of that incident. Borrowing a line from the 1995 film Apollo 13 - You sir, are a steeley-eyed missile man. A life well lived. Farewell and Godspeed, Mr. Armstrong. You will be missed. I remember Alan Shepherd's memorial service in 1998. The nation needs something like it for Neil Armstrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDI8SQ2fmLA Neil Armstrong almost killed by crash video run length = 00:00:49 seconds Neil Armstrong was almost killed in a crash while training for the moon landing. He managed to eject just before, saving his life. The vehicle that crashed is a training vehicle called the LLRV or 'Lunar Landing Research Vehicle'. Is was designed to mimic the 1/6 gravity on the moon. This event occured May 6th 1968. I remember reading about this how Neil had this crash and later in the day one of the other astronauts saw him sitting at his desk looking normal, reading some stuff and the other astronaut had no clue that this crash had happened a few hours before - he only knew when someone else asked him about it later. It was just a testament to Neil's professionalism and nerves that he could brush this one off. MJKmedia 5 hours ago I don't know if it was an "unpredictable" trainer, but the reason it crashed was because it ran out of fuel for the attitude control thrusters. Nilguiri 7 hours ago

[chimera]

I know they kept the Apollo 1 designation as a memorial to the lost crew, and Apollos 4 and 6 were unmanned tests of the Saturn 5. Apollo 5 was the unmanned test of the LM in Earth orbit. But what flights were Apollos 2 and 3?

[Dad x 3]

Excellent find, MacNaughton. That’s the footage I remember seeing.

[Monkey Face]

He was a hero. He was brave beyond what we consider brave, and he took it all with a grain of salt.

And I agree: Godspeed, Neil Armstrong.

Thanks for the ping!

‘Face

[dragnet2]

The link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDI8SQ2fmLA

Armstrong bailing out while piloting a jet-powered LEM simulator.

It exploded real good.