Neil Armstrong

[meganiwish]

One small step for a man, one giant leap for makind

[at9]

Those of us who are old enough will have witnessed the moon landings with awe and wonder. Many years later nobody has been back nor are there any real plans to do so again. http://xkcd.com/893/ We all know that the motivation for Kennedy's vision was largely cold war based and it cost a vast amount of money but the results transcended all that. Let us also remember Grisson, Chaffee and White who died in a launchpad fire that could have easily scuppered the whole Apollo programme. RIP Neil Armstrong.

[meganiwish]

I was old enough to know that it was something momentous but young enough to think it was normal. We should also remember Yuri Gagarin and Captain Joe Kittinger. Brave men all.

[Dr. Shoe]

What has a gravelled voiced singer got to do with walking on the moon? Oh... hang on... OK.

[Bubba136]

Why should we remembr these other guys? It's th passing of on man we are celebrating. Let's remembr these other two on the anniversary of their demise.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Bubba136

[heels59]

I followed it closely as a 10 year old at the time, and have since read numerous books on the whole space program. A few interesting tidbits: 1. Buzz Aldrin was the mission commander and senior officer, Neil was "just" the pilot. Buzz was originally scheduled to go first, but during practice sessions, it was discovered that Buzz had to go around Neil to get to the hatch. Very difficult in the bulky space suit in the confines of the LM. Neil went to the mission controllers and suggested that he go first instead. After much discussion the decision was made. Neil always held that it wasn't about the glory, just a practicality, and his subsequent actions in life proved that. However it did not sit well with Buzz. In the time since the two have been courteous and gentlemanly, but weren't personally close and did few appearances together. 2. There are no film pictures of Neil on the moon, just the grainy slow scan video. Not that you can tell who's inside the suit, but Neil held the camera and took all the pictures of Buzz. 3. Neil and Buzz agreed that the 6.5 Hour "rest" period planned into the flight schedule between the landing and the first walk was the stupidest thing ever. No way did they get any rest, let alone sleep. Too much adreneline.

[meganiwish]

Why should we remembr these other guys? It's th passing of on man we are celebrating. Let's remembr these other two on the anniversary of their demise.

Why should we remembr these other guys? It's th passing of on man we are celebrating. Let's remembr these other two on the anniversary of their demise.

No-one remembers Joe Kittinger, though I bet Neil Armstrong would have. First man to leave Earth's atmosphere. Neil Armstrong was an unassuming man who would have wanted anyone else's contribuiton to be recognised. Remember Kittinger, remember Armstrong.

What has a gravelled voiced singer got to do with walking on the moon?

Oh... hang on...

OK.

Was Sting that gravel voiced? Oh, you mean Sinatra

[Bubba136]

Yeah, right. I bet he even made it widely known that he really wanted Kittinger mentioned at the time of his "eulogizing" by saying thanks -- I owe my successful walk on the moon to you. Sheesh! Get real!

[meganiwish]

Standing on the shoulders of giants. It's how all great achievers do it.

[Bubba136]

I guess it's like Obama said (paraphras):" if you are successful, you didn't do it by yourself.". I guess the guys that built the power plants that supplied the electricity to smelt the metal should be thanked, also. Along with the guys that wove the laces in his boots,too.

[meganiwish]

Yes, I see your point, but Armstrong and Aldrin were quite clear that they were just part of something that began years before. Someone had to walk down the ladder first. Courageous, because no-one knew for sure that they'd be able to take off again, or that they wouldn't sink into a soft surface. And they'd all done years of test piloting the equipment. Kittinger was the one who showed that you could go outside the atmosphere in a pressure suit and not die, which they didn't know before for sure. I admire Neil Armstrong as much for his later modesty (which, interestingly, he shared with all the men who went to the Moon) as his courage. The thing about his passing is that the moonshots seemed like the future, and this is the first step in them becoming history, like WW1 has and WW2 soon will (See at9's link above, which make the point beautifully).

[Bubba136]

Yes, I also get your point. While it's taken, I guess we should also thank those that fought and died in WWII for keeping our nations free so that we could pursue a task like this. Obviously, you,re more interested in sharing the success of his mission with every swinging di**k that ever paid a penny in taxes than you are in mourning the passing of a separate, highly thought of individual that was dearly loved by his family and friends. And, while he probably is better known for being the first human to walk on the moon, his eulogy will be more in line of his being known as a decent and honorable man that, as you point out, just happened to be the first to leave his footprints upon the surface of another planet. That's where I'm coming from.

[meganiwish]

I called my thread 'Neil Armstrong'. A great man.

[Guest]

At every major step forward there are the shufflings of those that are touching that edge often waiting for the technology to catch up. they went to the moon with a computer with less power than a ZX Spectrum which is way less than the early smartphones. Prior to Hitler, Von Braun had said he wanted to travel to the moon as early as 1930. Now whether Hitler had plans for a military space platform to extend his powers may be open to debate (or marvel comics) . I would believe if Hitler had been successful then it would have been the swastika on the moon and not the American flag. DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I am not a supporter of that regime! past or present! Great men get the spotlight, many greater men/women stand in the shadow for those in front Maybe Neil's ashes will go to the moon? RIP. Al

[SF]

All them dudes were heros. Armstrong's passing made me sad. The end of a great era for the US. Even more spectacular was that it was all done with 1960's technology, your brain, paper, slide rule and wristwatch!! And now we can't even get a man into orbit, sad, sad. On the lighter side, I remember (and give equal credit to) the second guy on the moon - Aldrin. But who was the last guy on the moon? Gene Cernan - Apollo 17.... sf.....

[meganiwish]

The technology, I know! They were still making Morris Minors, and it was another four years until I saw a colour television (I know they existed, I just hadn't seen one).

[at9]

The minuscule amount of computing power on the LM and command module is astonishing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer Even the total amount of computing power at mission control wasn't in the modern PC class. I could be wrong, but ISTR that the designers deliberately had the astronauts enter a lot of stuff manually that could have been sent automatically. This was to give them a measure of control and minimise the "spam in a can" attitude that sometimes affected early spaceflight. Armstrong demonstrated the true worth of a top class human pilot on that first lunar landing. Apollo 11 only carried a monochrome TV camera. Subsequent Apollos carried a colour camera which used a rotating colour wheel and a single tube. Similar in concept to the CBS colour system of 1948. Not many people had colour TV in the UK in 1969. It had been introduced in 1967 (first country n Europe, US started its NTSC colour service in 1954))

[dww]

If I remenber correctly I first saw colour telly in Germany about 1965-1966 I was still at school. Went there with the air cadets flew there in a Bristol Britania Royal airforce transport command, flew back in a one eleven. I watched the moon landing live I was an apprentice at Goonhilly downs satellite tracking station in cornwall.

Edited August 31, 2012 by dww

[HappyinHeels]

ALL, Great and humble American for sure, Neil Armstrong. I still have the Chicago Tribune (the entire paper) from 21 JUL 1969 in my archive. I distinctly remember watching the landing in the living room of our 170-year old farmhouse (one of the oldest in Kenosha County) on a 25-inch black and white Zenith TV made just 60 miles away in Chicago, Illinois when everyhting from A to Z was made in the Midwest. The most curious thing to me about this event, when compared to the march of technology around us, is that this event seems to be the climax. Sure, we have sent probes past the other planets and gotten astounding photos of them and from the Hubble Telescope but we have not dared land on another world. Why????? We now know much more about just how high the radiation levels are in space. We have never tried even landing on the moon again with infinitely better spacecraft some forty years later. Why?? The reasons today are economical, the US just doesn't have the money. But it did in the 1980's and the 1990's and still no landing anywhere. "The truth is out there." Nevertheless, this is a time to remember Neil Armstrong and all he was in our hearts. He captured our imagination and stirred the soul ...all over the world. Rest in peace Neil. H in H

[meganiwish]

Why?Well, the moonshots were a political act. No need to send people now, when machines are cheaper and do the job as well.

[SF]

Political??? I just thought it was pretty darn cool......