Oorah, brother.
Posted on 05/24/2012 11:40:28 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
As the first person to walk on the moon, he is a man whose name will be remembered for generations to come. But one of the other well-known things about Neil Armstrong is that he hardly ever gives interviews.
It was therefore something of a coup for Alex Malley, chief executive of Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia, to secure almost an hour of Armstrong’s time to discuss the astronaut’s trip to the moon.
In the illuminating conversation posted online on the CPA Australia website, Armstrong revealed how he thought his mission, Apollo 11, only had a 50% chance of landing safely on the moon’s surface and said it was “sad” that the current US government’s ambitions for Nasa were so reduced compared with the achievements of the 1960s.
“Nasa has been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve,” said Armstrong. “It’s sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people.”
As a child, Armstrong said he had “become fascinated with the world of flight...
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
EXACTLY! And it won’t be US citizens doing the work or benefiting from the R&D
In the end, Armstrong’s reticence to speak about his experiences made him a poor choice for being the first man on the moon. He was in a unique position to advocate for spaceflight and NASA, but didn’t do so. Aldrin would’ve been a better choice.
That said, I’m glad the gov’t is getting out of manned spaceflight. Until someone proves Einstein wrong by creating something that can go faster than the speed of light, a manned spacecraft won’t leave the solar system. We’re probably not even going to make it past the asteroid belt.
I can imagine how cool that was. Those guys must have ice water in their veins to handle that sort of stress to do what they did.
If we trust our astronants to Russian launches the bar shouldn’t be too tough to meet. ;-)
Oorah, brother.
A beautiful shot of a beautiful airplane:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Grumman_Bearcat.jpg
Be sure to go full resolution, you can see the smile on the pilot’s face.
Except for the fact that space is the next frontier, and it’s status as the next military high ground, you’ve got it about right.
I want to see much of it turned over to the private sector too, but make no mistake about it, space exploration is very much covered in the U. S. Constitution.
If space dominance isn’t in there, then neither are our carriers, tanks, weapons, battle-ships... and on it goes.
We have a vested military stake in space. Don’t stare at the Constitution so hard that you are blinded by it’s brilliance.
It is predominately purple and grey.....the shade of grey chosen to match the sample of lunar rock brought home from the moon.
I agree, but also believe we'll never reached the speeds necessary or discover/develop the technology to cross interstellar space, without first using the solar system as a testing ground. Furthermore, I don't believe man will ever be able to travel though interstellar space and return, using traditional rocket technology. Hopefully somewhere between the sun and Pluto, we'll discover the technology to take us across the galaxy and beyond.
I have very high hopes for Space x. I hope there is enough vision with them to keep the technology alive
Aldrin HAS done as much as he could to advocate spaceflight. That’s pretty much his career now.
I always think of how he flubbed his first words on the lunar surface.
“One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind” makes no sense. He meant to say “for a man”.
Sure NASA isnt the same, because its been gutted by Obama.
Take away their money, their people, and give them piss poor leadership. By golly they arent the same.
shaazammm
Space exploration also drove motivation for students to get into fields of science and engineering, particalarly when the space programs were started. The SAT was supposed to a measure of how well students were doing and would do in college in fields related to these space programs.
I always thought it would have been hilarious if he's of said... "Coca Cola", "I'd like a Budweiser" or.... "Man, I could've had a V-8".... frickin priceless.
NASA was done long before Obama showed up on the scene. In fact, NASA manned space flight dug its own hole with the shuttle and the ISS. The manned program was on the downhill slope from that time on. Allowing the private sector to participate in manned space flight was the best thing that’s happened to our space program in the last 40 years.
” ......said Armstrong. “It’s sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people.”
I couldn’t agree with him more.
Obama is a dream killer.
Witness the J2X engine. "The technology of fifty years ago, taking us to back to space tomorrow!" When the J2 engine was born transistor radios were cutting edge technology, cars had bigger fins than submarines and the Beatles had yet to play Ed Sullivan.
Not that I mind seeing the engine redeveloped. But we are doing in 2012 what should have been done in 1972. The inertia on display is breathtaking.
Elvis lives!!!
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