RIP Neil Armstrong

[juddy]

I read this morning the Loss of Neil Armstrong.......

What a great man he was........

BBC News - US astronaut Neil Armstrong dies, first man on Moon (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19381098)

Some great old pictures and video from CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/25/us/neil-armstrong-obit/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[shorty943]

Never saw a photo of the man without a huge grin on his face.
Rest in Peace sir.

Live blog: First man on moon Neil Armstrong dead - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-26/first-man-on-moon-neil-armstrong-dead-at-82/4223190)

[Tombie]

Truly a man with 'The right stuff' :)

RIP... One of the planets greatest explorers .

[d3syd]

One of the all time most famous individuals who will forever more be known as the first human being to set foot ground that was not of this earth. RIP.

[Ferret]

Part of history gone. Remembered forever. RIP

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/08/388.jpg

[Catmatt]

Was a young kid attending school in NQLD when the teacher left us with a 'Back soon - behave yourselves".
We got bored pretty quick and started to muck up...even joined in with the class next door as the teacher was absent from there as well.

Further investigation showed all 4 teachers were absent and had made a bee-line for the staff room and the only TV......

You can guess the rest - Teachers got to see live one of the greatest events mankind had initiated.

We got to see it replayed later that afternoon. I'm still humbled by that momentous occasion and Armstrong's words........
Just would have been nice to witness it as it actually happened ;);)

[Davo]

I'm impressed that he never went down the road of trying to squeeze every last buck from his fame - and I don't think he had a Facebook page, either!

A bit like Don Bradman.

[MEANZ06]

I'm impressed that he never went down the road of trying to squeeze every last buck from his fame - and I don't think he had a Facebook page, either!

A bit like Don Bradman.

He was a Humble man.

RIP Mr. Armstrong

[juddy]

For such a great man, I hope they decided against naming a Ammunition ship after him, and make it something more like a frigate or aircraft carrier....

[p38arover]

Those blokes were incredibly brave. There was no chance of rescue. But what a ride!

I'm proud to have, in 1968-69, worked at the Moree satellite communications station that provided the comms from Australia back to the USA for that spaceflight. NASA Special and Critical Coverages where we couldn't do any maintenance which might drop comms were a common occurrence.

This was the station at Moree:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/465.jpg

Some more info here: http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/TV_from_Moon.html

To have been part of that in even such a small way was, at the time, very special — and it still is.

This envelope (which appeared on eVilBay a few years back) was signed by all of us at the station on the day of the launch (the date looks wrong because the US was a day behind):

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/08/365.jpg

I regret missing the visit this year by Buzz Aldrin to Carnarvon, WA, for the opening of the space museum http://www.carnarvonmuseum.org.au/ at the place where I worked in 1970-71 http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/carnarvon_OTC/index.html. My wife was a camera and darkroom operator at the NASA tracking station down the road taking photos of the sun to look for solar flares which would preclude EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity).

I'm at the desk in this pic of Ceduna Earth Station: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glenhsparky/3255252644/lightbox/

[juddy]

He liked a private life and did well to keep it that way.

What he did at the time was a jump of faith, sitting on top of a exploding rocket, and landing on the moon for the first time. That takes some balls.

This is one of the most iconic pictures of all time

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/08/361.jpg

NASA have changed there home page

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/armstrong/index.html

Big loss to them

[jerryd]

I was listening to a tribute to him earlier on the radio and was quite amazed how he played down his fame. I did chuckle when they said that Neil Armstrong had found out his hairdresser was bagging up his locks and selling them, so he sued him.

Another couple of interesting points they made, was that the live film footage of the moon landing was played from space onto a wall and then a camera man recorded it onto a tv camera.It was then broadcast to television throughout the world. This was the reason that the film was such a bad recording, in those days they did not have the technology to put film from the moon direct to tv.

They also said that on this day, that for twelve hours during the moon landing that no serious crime had been committed throughout the world , only one or two petty offences.

The original films were also lost for 35 years, when found they got erased by mistake as in those days the reels of film were used more than once.

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong :), a thousand years from now people will know who you are and will remember that you stepped off this planet and onto the moon.

That really was quite an achievement.

[Lionel]

" One small step for man . . . one giant step for mankind"

One final step for Neil Armstrong - a really great man who will NEVER be forgotten.

Lionel

[sdt463]

Recieved this today and thought I would pass it on, hope you all enjoy.

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW THIS LITTLE TIDBIT OF TRIVIA, ON JULY 20, 1969, AS COMMANDER OF THE APOLLO 11 LUNAR MODULE, NEIL ARMSTRONG WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO SET FOOT ON THE MOON.
HIS FIRST WORDS AFTER STEPPING ON THE MOON, “THAT’S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND,” WERE TELEVISED TO EARTH AND HEARD BY MILLIONS.*
BUT JUST BEFORE HE RE-ENTERED THE LANDER, HE MADE THE ENIGMATIC REMARK: “GOOD LUCK, MR. GORSKY.”
MANY PEOPLE AT NASA THOUGHT IT WAS A CASUAL REMARK CONCERNING SOME RIVAL SOVIET COSMONAUT.
HOWEVER, UPON CHECKING, THERE WAS NO GORSKY IN EITHER THE RUSSIAN OR AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAMS.
OVER THE YEARS, MANY PEOPLE QUESTIONED ARMSTRONG AS TO WHAT THE ‘GOOD LUCK, MR. GORSKY’ STATEMENT MEANT, BUT ARMSTRONG ALWAYS JUST SMILED.
ON JULY 5, 1995, IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA , WHILE ANSWERING QUESTIONS FOLLOWING A SPEECH, A REPORTER BROUGHT UP THE 26-YEAR-OLD QUESTION TO ARMSTRONG. THIS TIME HE FINALLY RESPONDED.
MR. GORSKY HAD DIED, SO NEIL ARMSTRONG FELT HE COULD NOW ANSWER THE QUESTION.
IN 1938, WHEN HE WAS A KID IN A SMALL MID-WESTERN TOWN, HE WAS PLAYING BASEBALL WITH A FRIEND IN THE BACKYARD.
HIS FRIEND HIT THE BALL, WHICH LANDED IN HIS NEIGHBOR’S YARD BY THEIR BEDROOM WINDOW.
HIS NEIGHBORS WERE MR. AND MRS. GORSKY. AS HE LEANED DOWN TO PICK UP THE BALL, YOUNG ARMSTRONG HEARD MRS. GORSKY SHOUTING AT MR. GORSKY: “SEX! YOU WANT SEX?! YOU’LL GET SEX WHEN THE KID NEXT DOOR WALKS ON THE MOON!”
TRUE STORY. IT BROKE THE PLACE UP.

[Mick_Marsh]

Good story. I had a laugh.

snopes.com: Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky! (http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.asp)

[sdt463]

Thanks Mick I never thought of snopes, made me smile too.
Dave