R.I.P. - Neil Armstrong, 1st man on the moon, dies
Ron Czapala
Posts: 2,418
Neil Armstrong was a quiet self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step on to the moon. The modest man who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter million miles away has died. He was 82.
Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, a statement Saturday from his family said. It didn't say where he died.
Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His first words after setting foot on the surface are etched in history books and the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.
"That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.
Biographical data
Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, a statement Saturday from his family said. It didn't say where he died.
Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His first words after setting foot on the surface are etched in history books and the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.
"That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.
Biographical data
Comments
You deserve a hero's send off!
Nowadays we've got Twitter and Facebook to inspire the next generation.
Inspiration. Surely there's an app for that.
Thank you Sir, for your inspiration and accomplishments.
R.I.P Neil Armstrong
Sad commentary that it's been 40 + years since Armstrong walked on the moon and all we have today is a golf cart on Mars, rely on the Russians to keep our space station operational. NASA has lost the ability to create spacecraft and has to out-source it. Makes me wonder what made those older engineers so talented compared to this generation who couldn't even create a modern space shuttle.
From the Greatest generation to a generation of hipsters on facebook with imaginary farms.
Was it just me being young or was the human race a lot more optimistic then?
With every decade that goes by my admiration for those guys increases. The more you find out about the technology they were using the more unlikely it seems it would have ever worked. And how brave do you have to be to travel 240 thousand miles in to space, land on the moon and expect to be able to get back in this thing http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/369227main_aldrinLM_full.jpg
As for the hoax nut heads, we had a nice talk about this in 2009 http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?114477-This-may-make-a-cool-Propeller-emulation-project-Apollo-landing-computer
"Humans can accomplish almost anything - if we commit."
I watched a very interesting (and long, although I have to give credit to the directors of the series, it kept me on the edge of my seat for 6 hours (not continuous)) DVD recently about NASAs missions, I would highly recomend watching the series, called "When We Left Earth". It really is awe inspiring when I watch this old footage. The series not only contains narration about the footage, but also interviews with the actual (living) astronaughts.
-John
I've actually met one doubter in person.. the others I've only seen on the 'net. What they seem to have in common is that a) they are too young to actually have watched it themselves, and b) they don't seem to grasp the realities of the computer technology level at the time. What NASA got from MIT was cutting edge and maybe 3 years ahead of what was available commercially, and it wasn't much. There's a (modern) film where Buzz Aldrin explained the background for the troubles they had during landing (overload alarms), the 'computer' couldn't handle receiving input from the rendezvous radar and the landing radar at the same time. That was probably just simple 'pings', but it wasn't designed to handle more data than the input from one radar (but Mr. Aldrin, being "Dr. Rendezvous", thought differently than the MIT engineers: He wanted to keep the rendezvous radar on also during landing in case they had to abort, so that they would find the orbiter if they did.)
I clicked on that 2009 thread link.. someone said "All that technology, and a ZX80 to navigate
On topic again: In that film sequence with Buzz Aldrin that I mentioned above he also talks about how Neil Armstrong was the right guy to handle the landing: he kept his calm whatever happened. And they had some trouble, couldn't land where planned due to lots of rocks, very little fuel left, alarms, and still making all the right decisions. Some years earlier Neil Armstrong's Gemini capsule went into a spin and he did everything by the book and took it out of its spin, apparently without increasing his hearth rate much.
-Tor
Well they probably need to see the photos they took on the moon - I've a book of them, full page colour plates (admittedly mostly grey!) in atonshingly quality (they took special Hasselblad cameras) no Photoshop in 1970's... I can see why its an enticing idea though - you could spend a whole lot less money faking it.
The thing I got from the encounter was that they (the moon guys) were so underestimating of the fantastic achievement that they had done and Buzz came across as just an ordinary guy except for the fact that albeit his age he was as sharp as a razor, I was amazed at how articulate and intelligent he came over.
I'm truly saddened at the great man's passing away but as others have said he will never be forgotten. Neil Armstrong RIP.
Maybe he was right, he certainly had a good long run.
Thank you sir, and farewell.
Hence the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment... I can believe anyone still thinks we didn't actually go.
Wasn't there a movie based on this theory a long time ago?
RIP Neil.. Thanks for inspiring all of us!
Jeff
Capricorn One - 1977 Failed mission to Mars, but yeah... they faked it till the heat shield failed during re-entry to Earth. Mayhem ensued!~
Indeed... R.I.P. Mr. Armstrong. "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning."
They showed a nice picture of the top of the backpack where there was a triangular flap centered on the top with snaps around it. They said this is the flap that appeared in the photo and not the video. Therefor, they had to be taken at different times, therefor fake.
I could not explain this discrepancy when I first watched it. However, after downloading the actual image from the lunar archive it is very clear that the flap photoed is not in the center of the backpack and it does not have snaps around it. Then I watched the video again and right there in the documentary you can see the flap "flapping" as John Young makes his jump. The freeze frame that they offer as evidence is just when the flap was captured in the down position.
If you watch this "documentary" only once you are not looking for the flap when they play the video. After they mention the flap they do not run it again - they only show the single frame. It is clear to me that even the makers of the show know that they are being deceptive.
My point is that the evidence of the Lunar landings being an actual event is so mind boggilly (sp?) overwhelming that to believe it is a hoax takes a "special" type of mentality that cannot be reasoned with.
His words, "It may have not gone to the moon, but it sure went somewhere... Watching the Saturn V go up was like watching someone launch a skyscraper."
OBC
Almost makes me want to watch Capricorn One Again, except for (ugh!) OJ Simpson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLHAKoK35w
Being lazy I was always a fan of that idea until I discovered that there are those who maintain that if you exercise regularly your heart rate will slow down overall i.e. you will live longer.
Problem is I only get one life so I cannot do the experiment both ways round to compare:)
I think a great way to honor Mr. Armstrong and all of those that were and are part of the space program is to reach out to today's kids and teach them the value of science and engineering.
We took our 7 year old daughter to a local park on Sunday and launched a couple of model rockets as a small tribute.
Chris Wardell
Neil Armstrong was 82. Michael Collins is 81 and Buzz Aldrin is 82.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/speech-nixon-never-gave-event-moon-disaster-171446192.html
It's sad to hear that Neil passed at 82, but it's a marvel that it happened back here on earth, long after a successful mission and a full life.
RIP, Neil. Thank you for a job well done.