Neil Armstrong - August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012
Neil Armstrong, was the iconic symbol of America’s dominance of the 20th Century. When he walked on the moon it was the defining moment of the USA technological and cultural hegemony. From that day onwards it proved to be the crowning moment and the pinnacle from which the decline of the last super power may be embarking on.
When Neil Armstrong said “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, he was either listened to or watched by 500 million people, which equates to 1 in every 6 persons heard him speak. He was one of the most famous persons in the world and went into history as the first human to step on another heavenly body.
Not only was he hero in the sense of being the first man on the moon, he became a hero in his absolute refusal to exploit his fame and was determined not to let others exploit his name. He refused to give out autographs as they tended to end up for sale and when a barber tried to sell his hair he sued and got the person to donate the money raised to charity.
He was passionate about his country’s ability to continue with its space mission and was upset when the US cut back on its space exploration writing in a joint letter with Apollo veterans Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan that “…. The United States, the leading space faring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature”.
His disappointment with the US position also reflects the anti-scientific agenda with which the US seems to be embarked on. When elected politicians can believe the climate change is a hoax, humans walked with dinosaurs and women secret fluid when being ‘legitimately raped’ to stop pregnancies it is clear that there is a malaise which is bordering on the insane and is not good for the advancement of humanity.
My love for space is directly linked to Neil Armstrong’s journey to the moon in the Apollo 11 mission. When you put yourself in his position as best as you can it can only be sheer wonder that such a magnificent thing could happen. The fact that it was done with a computer which had the memory of 48k makes it even more remarkable.
Neil Armstrong leaves a wife two sons, a stepson, a stepdaughter, and ten grandchildren.
Landing on the Moon :July 20, 1969
Frank Sinatra – Fly Me To The Moon
The Police – Walking on the Moon
David Bowie – Space Oddity
