Neil Armstrong, R.I.P.
July 20, 1969 is one of those days etched forever in my memory. I was ten years old, and already a huge science fiction fan. It was inevitable, especially after I begged them, that my parents let me to stay up late to witness the first steps taken by a human being on the Moon. Today, the man who took those steps, Neil Armstrong, left this world again. According to the AP:
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 onto the moon. The modest man, who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter-million miles away, died Saturday. He was 82.
Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. It didn’t say where he died; he had lived in suburban Cincinnati.
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.
That first landing, aside from its obvious historicity, was always special to me for another reason. Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon whose role in Apollo 11 is sometimes forgotten (as is Michael Collins, who flew the command module while his colleagues were on the surface), was from right up the road from me in Montclair, New Jersey. There was a lot of pride involved back then in being able to say a fellow New Jerseyan had gone to the Moon.
Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins: three American heroes. Now one of them is gone, but never to be forgotten.
Share this story:
Recent Related Posts
- Former CNN anchor calls out POTUS for excusing Hollywood violence
- South Dakota strengthens abortion waiting period law
- Are Americans the Weirdest People in the World?
- Prophets Undeserving of Honor
- The madness of the porn-addicted culture, now playing at an Iowa prison
- Most Dog Toy Attacks Are By A Friend or Family Member
- Born That Way? Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay
Comments
Facebook comments are closed.
13 comments
There are some things whose significance can’t be grasped until you are much, much older. I didn’t have to convince my mom and dad to let me stay up and watch the landing; both were much older than I was and had perspective. But it wasn’t until decades later that I grasped the enormity of that day.
I own a laptop and an iPad and I’m pretty good with how modern techology works. Which is why I find it astonishing that this country put two men on the moon and brought them safely home.
Using the technology of 1969.
[1] Posted by Christopher Johnson on 8-25-2012 at 04:54 PM · [top]
Armstrong and Aldrin (a PECUSA Lay Eucharistic Minister) celebrated communion as the first “real” thing they did after landing (under a special license from Aldrin’s bishop.) That’s a bit of trivia that isn’t found in most history books.
[2] Posted by James Manley on 8-25-2012 at 05:37 PM · [top]
Presbyterians don’t have bishops or LEMs. Aldrin brought what Anglicans would call “reserved sacrament.” Consecrated bread and wine. He received, but I don’t know if Armstrong did.
[3] Posted by Ralph on 8-25-2012 at 07:26 PM · [top]
Eric Metaxas commented on this on his blog, which was archived at [url=http://www.ericmetaxas.com/blog/communion-on-the-moon-july-20th-1969/]http://www.ericmetaxas.com/blog/communion-on-the-moon-july-20th-1969/ [/url]
[4] Posted by comoxpastor on 8-25-2012 at 07:35 PM · [top]
I guess I didn’t get that link correctly :(
[5] Posted by comoxpastor on 8-25-2012 at 07:36 PM · [top]
Well, is this what you were trying to do? communion on the moon
[6] Posted by SC blu cat lady on 8-25-2012 at 09:08 PM · [top]
Did the link but it goes nowhere….... sigh.
[7] Posted by SC blu cat lady on 8-25-2012 at 09:08 PM · [top]
Communion on the moon
One more try.
[8] Posted by SC blu cat lady on 8-25-2012 at 09:13 PM · [top]
Carl Sagan said that since the moon was” billions and billions of years old” that the dust would be hundreds of feet thick and it would be fatal to land or much less step into it. Guess all that dust just blew away!
[9] Posted by PROPHET MICAIAH on 8-25-2012 at 09:32 PM · [top]
Sorry O’Hare was causing such a mess and Aldrin wasn’t able to be open about the eucharist. But it’s great that the body of Christ was present!
RIP, indeed. Here’s to another small step for him.
[10] Posted by maineiac on 8-25-2012 at 10:17 PM · [top]
Of course, he was a Naval Aviator, so he can’t really be called a pilot. But I suppose we can forgive that minor indiscretion at this point.
Only 12 men have walked on ground not on the Earth. Their footsteps are still visible in the dust - undisturbed from the day the imprints were made. Armstrong was the first and therefore the one remembered. But he will always be the visible face of 12 - a small camaraderie of men who share an experience only they can truly understand. When they die, that experience will be lost to mankind. The rest of us can grasp the memories only like children who look through the window at sweets.
Who knows when that experience will ever be repeated?
carl
[11] Posted by carl on 8-25-2012 at 10:57 PM · [top]
Prophet Micaiah,
Sagan just proved the first of Arthur C. Clarke’s three laws.
<li>1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.</li>
<li>2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.</li>
<li>3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.</li>
[12] Posted by BillB on 8-25-2012 at 11:59 PM · [top]
Excuse the <li> tags. They don’t work here.
I fondly remember staying up late that night and seeing Armstrong take that first step. I was 17 at the time.
[13] Posted by BillB on 8-26-2012 at 12:01 AM · [top]
Registered members are welcome to leave comments. Log in here, or register here.
Comment Policy: We pride ourselves on having some of the most open, honest debate anywhere. However, we do have a few rules that we enforce strictly. They are: No over-the-top profanity, no racial or ethnic slurs, and no threats real or implied of physical violence. Please see this post for more explanation, and the posts here, here, and here for advice on becoming a valued commenter as opposed to an ex-commenter. Although we rarely do so, we reserve the right to remove or edit comments, as well as suspend users' accounts, solely at the discretion of site administrators. Since we try to err on the side of open debate, you may sometimes see comments which you believe strain the boundaries of our rules. Comments are the opinions of visitors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Stand Firm site administrators or Gri5th Media, LLC.