Neil Armstrong - 1930-2012

[Guest]

There is no doubt that WW2 defined a generation. In my humble opinion, the Apollo 11 mission was the most meaningful for another, not that any of us know that fully yet. Only history will be able to tell us precisely what place that journey is to have in the world's story. The complexities are considerable and by rights it will be given several volumes. Apollo 11 inspired awe. It even suggested that anything was possible. With the benefit of hindsight, it may merely have been a pinnacle. It is still extraordinary how such a thing could have occurred. The vision was unparalleled and the bravery of those involved immense. I for one am very sorry to see Neil Armstrong go. He seems significant in ways that are wholly intangible. And, suddenly, that sky looks awful' close.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/25/neil-armstrong-space

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/9499820/Neil-Armstrong.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/first-man-on-moon-neil-armstrong-dies-aged-82-8081291.html

[Resurrection Man]

Oh gosh...thanks for that, Lat...I missed that. I remember staying up and watching it live. When you look at the primitive (to us now) technology in those capsules, they were very brave.

[mangerton]

I've just logged on and found this very sad news. Lat has beaten me to it in starting the thread.

I too was one of the millions who sat up all that night in July 1969 and watched Neil Armstrong take his one small step. It was a momentous occasion, and they were all very brave men.

I am proud to be a member of the same clan.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It is still extraordinary how such a thing could have occurred. The vision was unparalleled and the bravery of those involved immense. I for one am very sorry to see Neil Armstrong go. He seems significant in ways that are wholly intangible.

Quite so.

[Petrushka]

Another one who sat up on that July Sunday night in 1969 watching the Moon landing. This took place just two days before I left school, about to start a momentous journey of my own (but didn't know that then). The Moon landing and the Kennedy assassination were the two major news stories that define my 1960's childhood.

A few weeks later a commemorative 45rpm single was issued of the landing, Nixon's telephone call and Armstrong's famous words. I have it with me now but am sadly unable to play it.

RIP Neil Armstrong.

[Serial_Apologist]

Somehow I can't help but feel that that moon landing represented the last positive thing capitalism has had to offer the world in terms of technological progress. It came at the end, And partly as a consequence, of Keynsian middle course, mixed economy consensus - well maybe more in Europe than America - and any remaining lasting positive outcomes in terms of useful product and scientific research and understanding seem to have derived from it, in particular the new perspective on our planet it literally offered humankind through they eyes of Neil, Buzz and the others on that flight. Under the global regime of laisser-faire free market economics, it's been noticeably downhill ever since.

[Lateralthinking1]

There are a lot of positive memories and I do agree, Serial_Apologist, that life seemed better then.

[johncorrigan]

Some myths are closer to actuality than others. Since we all live by them, individually and collectively, it serves to be able to distinguish the former from the latter.

Whatever is thought about the lunar missions - the expense, the political race, the thought that resources could be better
used down here - these guys were incredible individuals, and Neil Armstrong the toughest of the lot. In Tom Wolfe's excellent book 'The Right Stuff' and the great film that followed he is portrayed as a driven man of great strength and focus - that was long after I had made up my mind that he was one of the great heroes of history. I am sad to read of his passing and think about that amazing night when we symbolically broke away from our home planet.

[Pabmusic]

...Only history will be able to tell us precisely what place that journey is to have in the world's story. The complexities are considerable and by rights it will be given several volumes. Apollo 11 inspired awe. It even suggested that anything was possible. With the benefit of hindsight, it may merely have been a pinnacle. It is still extraordinary how such a thing could have occurred. The vision was unparalleled and the bravery of those involved immense. I for one am very sorry to see Neil Armstrong go. He seems significant in ways that are wholly intangible. And, suddenly, that sky looks awful' close.

A moving post. The lunar missions were indeed pinnacles, and it is difficult to think that we'll easily see anything as spectacular again in our lifetimes. But I wouldn't go as far as to think this is the pinnacle for all time - and certainly not the pinnacle of human achievement.

It would have been nice to have cleared up the mystery before Armstrong's death. I don't mean whether the landing took place at all - nonsense that tells more about the human capacity to embrace mythology, cynicism and gullibility - I mean the mystery of what Neil Armstrong said as he stepped onto the Moon. He always insisted that he said: "That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind". But it has gone down in history as "That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind" - which is nonsense, since "man" and "mankind" mean the same in such a context. The recording certainly sounds like the received version, but it is argued that the "a" that would make it an entirely sensible thing to say disappeared in its 250,000 mile journey to Earth.

[amateur51]

Sad that he's died but he does seem to have been very poorly of late.

A great and brave pioneer, maybe the last - who knows?

[Resurrection Man]

Somehow I can't help but feel that that moon landing represented the last positive thing capitalism has had to offer the world in terms of technological progress. It came at the end, And partly as a consequence, of Keynsian middle course, mixed economy consensus - well maybe more in Europe than America - and any remaining lasting positive outcomes in terms of useful product and scientific research and understanding seem to have derived from it, in particular the new perspective on our planet it literally offered humankind through they eyes of Neil, Buzz and the others on that flight. Under the global regime of laisser-faire free market economics, it's been noticeably downhill ever since.

Don't you EVER give up? Can't we have one single thread without you jumping on your damn hobby horse yet again?

[Tony Halstead]

Don't you EVER give up? Can't we have one single thread without you jumping on your damn hobby horse yet again?

[BBMmk2]

What a great and humble man NA was. He was a a very great man in every sense. RIP NEIL ARMSTRONG

[amateur51]

Don't you EVER give up? Can't we have one single thread without you jumping on your damn hobby horse yet again?

If your analysis is correct RM, who can blame S_A for being eager to trigger off such a magnificent over-reaction?

What are you going to be like when something really serious captures your attention

[Serial_Apologist]

Whatever is thought about the lunar missions - the expense, the political race, the thought that resources could be better
used down here - these guys were incredible individuals, and Neil Armstrong the toughest of the lot. In Tom Wolfe's excellent book 'The Right Stuff' and the great film that followed he is portrayed as a driven man of great strength and focus - that was long after I had made up my mind that he was one of the great heroes of history. I am sad to read of his passing and think about that amazing night when we symbolically broke away from our home planet.

Just to note that I have deleted my post #7, from which the above quote is taken. My apologies to all concerned.