Page 1 of 1

The first man to set foot on the moon died this last weekend

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:49 am
by animalguy888
Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut who made "one giant leap for mankind" when he became the first man to walk on the moon, died Saturday. He was 82.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," Armstrong's family said in a statement.

Armstrong underwent heart surgery this month.

"While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves," his family said.




Armstrong gives rare interview to Australian accountant

Armstrong died Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to a NASA spokesman. The agency's administrator put the death in perspective.

"As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them," said Charles Bolden. "As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero."

Armstrong took two trips into space. He made his first journey in 1966 as commander of the Gemini 8 mission, which nearly ended in disaster.

Armstrong kept his cool and brought the spacecraft home safely after a thruster rocket malfunctioned and caused it to spin wildly out of control.

During his next space trip in July 1969, Armstrong and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted off in Apollo 11 on a nearly 250,000-mile journey to the moon that went down in the history books.

It took them four days to reach their destination.

Time: Life up close with Apollo 11

The world watched and waited as the lunar module "Eagle" separated from the command module and began its descent.

Then came the words from Armstrong: "Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed."

About six and a half hours later at 10:56 p.m. ET on July 20, 1969, Armstrong, at age 38, became the first person to set foot on the moon.

He uttered the now-famous phrase: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

The quote was originally recorded without the "a," which was picked up by voice recognition software many years later.

Armstrong was on the moon's surface for two hours and 32 minutes and Aldrin, who followed him, spent about 15 minutes less than that.
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-08-25/us/u ... giant-leap

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:55 pm
by Grep42
Truly a great man. May he rest in peace.

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:46 am
by SilentEcho
inb4 an argument about whether the moon landing was real or not

(r.i.p)

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:33 pm
by Lady
It's so sad.. I told my sisters about this, and in the end they were like "He was alive this whole time? o.o"
May he rest in peace.

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:03 pm
by KibaWolf
I see that this man has passed, now. I honor him with my highest mental honors, and may he rest in peace.

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:01 pm
by sparkwolf111
that was my reaction aswell o -o

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 7:08 pm
by Scarikas
is it bad that I thought this guy was already dead

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:18 pm
by SilentEcho
a lot of people did *including me lol*

Re: The first man to set foot on the moon died this last wee

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:09 pm
by animalguy888
Yes whether we are aware or not neil armstrong inspired us all.


Especially this man featured in this article.
Late astronaut Neil Armstrong's historic 1969 moonwalk put dreams of spaceflight in the heads of countless kids around the world — including one Canadian nine-year-old who would grow up to become his nation's first International Space Station commander.

Chris Hadfield is slated to assume control of the huge orbiting laboratory in March 2013, something no Canadian has ever done. And he said watching Armstrong — who was memorialized in a public ceremony today (Sept. 13) in Washington, D.C. — take that famous "one small step" inspired him to work toward becoming an astronaut, despite some pretty steep odds.

"When I was a kid, it was impossible to be an astronaut. It wasn't just hard — it was impossible. There was no Canadian astronaut program," Hadfield told SPACE.com.
"But I thought, as a nine-year-old Canadian kid, 'Well, shoot. We just landed on the moon for the first time, and nobody ever did that before,'" Hadfield added. "'So maybe things will change, and even though it's impossible now, I'm going to start getting ready.'"

Hadfield is scheduled to launch toward the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on Dec. 5. He and two fellow spaceflyers — NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko — will round out the orbiting lab's six-person Expedition 34 when they get there.

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford will command Expedition 34. But Hadfield will take charge of Expedition 35, which begins when Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin depart the station in March.

Hadfield has spent a total of 20 days in space on two space shuttle missions — STS-74 in 1995, which helped build Russia's Mir space station, and STS-100 in 2001, an International Space Station assembly flight. He said he's thrilled that he'll get to live on orbit for a five-month stretch this time around, and honored to be selected as commander.

"It is hugely exciting and a great honor to be asked to be the commander of the International Space Station," Hadfield said today during a press briefing to preview Expeditions 34 and 35. "It's just a dream come true."

Neil Armstrong vaulted to icon status on July 20, 1969, when he became the first person ever to set foot on another world. The words he uttered upon stepping onto the moon — "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," are among the most famous ever spoken.

Armstrong died Aug. 25 following complications from a recent heart surgery. He was memorialized first in a private ceremony in Cincinnati on Aug. 31, then in a public service today at Washington National Cathedral. The former Navy pilot is scheduled to be buried at sea Friday (Sept. 14).
http://www.space.com/17593-neil-armstro ... onaut.html