Neil Armstrong Dies

stoneill

PogMoThoin wrote: »

RIP Neil Armstrong

This is a true story,
When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only said his famous "One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind" statement, but followed it by several remarks - usual communication traffic between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. 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 nor American space programs. Over the years, many people have questioned him as to what the "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant.
On July 5, in Tampa Bay, FL, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. He finally responded.
It seems that Mr. Gorsky had finally died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question: "When I was a kid, I was playing baseball with my brother in the backyard. He had hit a fly ball which landed in front of my neighbors' bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As I leaned down to pick up the ball, I heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

This has been disproved many times - you should read Andrew Chaiken's book, From the Earth to the Moon. -
Also - full transcripts are available from
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.html

Motorist

Lapin wrote: »

Try posting something with a touch of humour then.

The shíte you posted was idiotic, crassly stupid and completely pointless.

I know AH isn't the most serious place on Boards, but I can't see why that should attract a race to the bottom among some posters in an effort to post the most inane comments whenever someone else opens a thread about somebody dying.

As I said earlier, it is neither funny no witty.
When people have nothing useful to say, they are better off saying fukall.

However $hite his post was, it wasn't as bad or as nauseating at your faux-outrage and pathetic righteous indignation.

Colmustard

He was selected for many reasons, but one was he was remarkably cool under pressure. When he realised the landing computer was guiding the lander in to rocks and potential disaster, he took control of the craft without hesitation, he successfully manually landed the craft with only second of fuel to spare.

Although he always credited the 200,000 people involved in this adventure, he was crucial. Everyone liked this man.

Colmustard

V_Moth wrote: »

Very sad to hear this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It4WxQ6dnn0

I

Incredibly fitting.

A perfect selection.

humbert

I still think Laika was the greater milestone, but she was a communist, and a dog.

How far we've traveled into space is a crap metric for scientific advancement.

Lapin

Motorist wrote: »

However $hite his post was, it wasn't as bad or as nauseating at your faux-outrage and pathetic righteous indignation.

I hope the irony of that comment isn't lost on you.

Colmustard

As the OP said pretty soon there will be no man alive who has walked on another world.

We humans have to get back up there as the NASA emblem states "For all mankind".

Lollers

A nice quote here from the Armstrong family. "next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the Moon...think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink".

nyarlothothep

Neil Armstrong is like a mythological figure to me. I feel like the world has lost something with his passing. If anything he lived an extraordinary and great life, he was the first man, the first human being in the history of our species on another rock floating in space. The achievement has fundamental significance. For that he is a legend and for that he is an iconic figure whom I believe and hope will be remembered forever in the future hitsory of the human race.

Wompa1

humbert wrote: »

I still think Laika was the greater milestone, but she was a communist, and a dog.

How far we've traveled into space is a crap metric for scientific advancement.

Killing a dog in a rocket was a greater milestone than a shuttle carrying people going into space, landing on another planet and safely returning the people to earth?

Be honest, is it because it was the Americans?

Somnus

humbert wrote: »

How far we've traveled into space is a crap metric for scientific advancement.

I disagree somewhat. The scientific development that goes into space travel is huge.
Not to mention that it is an inspiring way to draw people in science in general

It is quite sad that space travel has only gone downhill since then 70s

Wibbs

Wompa1 wrote: »

Killing a dog in a rocket was a greater milestone than a shuttle carrying people going into space, landing on another planet and safely returning the people to earth?

Just to be clear, it wasn't the shuttle involved.

Capt'n Midnight

"it's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."
- Alan Shepard.



I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.
- Neil Armstrong

It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
- Neil Armstrong

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.
- Neil Armstrong

It's a brilliant surface in that sunlight. The horizon seems quite close to you because the curvature is so much more pronounced than here on earth. It's an interesting place to be. I recommend it.
- Neil Armstrong

The one thing I regret was that my work required an enormous amount of my time, and a lot of travel.
- Neil Armstrong


lots more
http://www.quoteswise.com/neil-armstrong-quotes.html

Hammer Archer

Genuinely down about this. What an absolute hero of a man.
Kind of apt that the half moon is clearly visible outside tonight.
RIP.

Latchy

I was 8 years old and on family holiday in Kilmuckridge ,Co Wexford when the moon landings took place .It was a fascinating time watching the events on tv .

bluecode

He was a pilot first and foremost, so am I. At that point we diverge. We both loved flying but he was way and ahead of anything I could dream of and while we both loved flying he was the real thing. A proper American hero, modest with it. It's no accident he was the first man on the moon, without him it would have been a disaster.

Somehow my youthful illusions have come to an end with his passing. I was a child of the space age. By now I would have expected that we would have a permanent presense on the moon. But as we know that hasn't happened. It never will now.

Passing of an era. I stayed up all that night in '69, fighting sleep to see the most extraordinanory moments in history.

When I finally went to bed that morning. I looked out my window at the moon and thought: 'There's people there now'. Magical, you have no idea how that felt.

RIP Neil!

Somnus

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.
- Neil Armstrong

Now that is a fantastic quote. Really inspirational and hopeful.
People would have laughed at the thought not long before they achieved what they did.
Who knows what we will achieve in the future

NegativeCreep

mauzo wrote: »

Off to the Kennedy space centre on monday. Now it will be sad

Oh god don't go! It's the most boring place ever! Only good thing is theres free drink refills everwhere :cool:

Also, rip Neil Armstrong.

Latchy

bluecode wrote: »

When I finally went to bed that morning. I looked out my window at the moon and thought: 'There's people there now'. Magical, you have no idea how that felt.

RIP Neil!

I think that's a sentiment that was shared at the time by millions on the planet who witnessed history being made , including my 8 year old self .

Mycroft H

My day has suddenly become a lot sadder. RIP Commander Armstrong.

bluecode

Latchy wrote: »

I think that's a sentiment that was shared at the time by millions on the planet who witnessed history being made , including my 8 year old self .

There's not too many of us left now. I wish I could express it to people who weren't there, including my wife who is slightly younger.

It was one of those moments in time.

Calibos

V_Moth wrote: »

Very sad to hear this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It4WxQ6dnn0

You Bastard!........Thank you!

You've made a grown man cry.

starlings

Godspeed, astronaut Armstrong. None of us were there in space with him, and I wasn't born in time, but it always amazes me to look at the moon and think that we were there. It will always be amazing. I didn't realise I had a hero till I heard that he had died.

This Onion article summed it up for me, in a strangely respectful way:
http://members.shaw.ca/rlongpre01/moon.html

Colmustard

V_Moth wrote: »

Very sad to hear this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It4WxQ6dnn0

Calibos wrote: »

You Bastard!........Thank you!

You've made a grown man cry.

No I was quoting another poster V_Moth it was his selection and I was complementing him on that selection.

Latchy

bluecode wrote: »

There's not too many of us left now. I wish I could express it to people who weren't there, including my wife who is slightly younger.

It was one of those moments in time.

I think it goes without saying but there was so much going on earth at the time ,The Vietnam war was at it's peak and Woodstock was also happening so one had to pinch oneself that this incredible event taken place millions of miles away was actually happening before our eyes . The Eagle hovering around the moons surface before the landing ,then the astronauts doing what they had to do ( but as Armstrong said himself '' it's just a pity we didn't have more time to stay there and take it all in more'') ,then the splashdown and Nixon talking to the astronauts on the battleship ...better then any movie .

bluecode

We were lucky to witness a moment in history.

Jacksquat

R.I.P. one of the world's few true legends

Wibbs

bluecode wrote: »

When I finally went to bed that morning. I looked out my window at the moon and thought: 'There's people there now'. Magical, you have no idea how that felt.

Same here even though it as the last mission in my case. I remember my dad bringing me out child hand in father's hand into the garden and both of us looking at the moon hanging in sky, for the first time in history with life moving and sleeping and eating and thinking on that bright orb. Like you say BC, magical.

thought some of you would enjoy this poem, in memory


Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunwards I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds – and done a thousand things

You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air,

Up, up the long delirious burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,

Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;

And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of god

KenSwee

God's speed Mr Armstrong.

humbert

Wompa1 wrote: »

Killing a dog in a rocket was a greater milestone than a shuttle carrying people going into space, landing on another planet and safely returning the people to earth?

Be honest, is it because it was the Americans?

Firstly, not a planet.

Secondly, sending something up into orbit was the milestone. Fannying around on some barren rock looks good on camera but I don't see the significance.

I'd count Mars as significant because there's a chance it might not be(have been) barren.

Stained Class

Neil Armstrong was one of the icons of my childhood.

Every kid of my era knew his name & what he did. (I was born in the late '60's).

Of course, he kept a low profile in his later years............

But, you know what? Somehow it was reassuring to know he was still around.

Now he's gone.

RIP Neil.

Somnus

humbert wrote: »

Firstly, not a planet.

Secondly, sending something up into orbit was the milestone. Fannying around on some barren rock looks good on camera but I don't see the significance.

I'd count Mars as significant because there's a chance it might not be(have been) barren.

Successfully landing on the moon, moving around it, and then safely returning to earth is a hell of a lot more challenging than simply orbiting the planet

A Primal Nut

humbert wrote: »

Firstly, not a planet.

Secondly, sending something up into orbit was the milestone. Fannying around on some barren rock looks good on camera but I don't see the significance.

I'd count Mars as significant because there's a chance it might not be(have been) barren.

Sending a dog into space to die is nowhere near as challenging as sending a human being into space and bringing him back alive.

Anyway the Russians deserve credit (more so for Gagarin than for that dog) as do the USA for the achievements in that period.

And if you fail to see the significance of man landing on the moon..then there's no hope!

RIP Neil Armstrong.

WumBuster

My name is Neil too and it was fascinating that one of the first names i learned in school in that of 2nd class history was Neil Armstrong and this superhuman story about him being the first man to walk on the moon. His legend will live on forever.

starlings

Wibbs wrote: »

Same here even though it as the last mission in my case. I remember my dad bringing me out child hand in father's hand into the garden and both of us looking at the moon hanging in sky, for the first time in history with life moving and sleeping and eating and thinking on that bright orb. Like you say BC, magical.

My mother used to take us out to the garden to watch the Perseids. Voyagers I and II are still out there, bringing messages from humanity to whoever/whatever/whenever intercepts them - all full of the hope and wonder of a child looking at the moon.

Wibbs

starlings wrote: »

My mother used to take us out to the garden to watch the Perseids. Voyagers I and II are still out there, bringing messages from humanity to whoever/whatever/whenever intercepts them - all full of the hope and wonder of a child looking at the moon.

True dat S and today we have a bit of humanity dressed as a robot about to wheel itself around Mars. And we can all download it's pics as desktops. You're dead right S, the wonder continues and long may it do so.

stoneill

humbert wrote: »

Firstly, not a planet.

Secondly, sending something up into orbit was the milestone. Fannying around on some barren rock looks good on camera but I don't see the significance.

I'd count Mars as significant because there's a chance it might not be(have been) barren.

Do you know the distances involved between Earth orbit and going to the Moon?

humbert

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Sending a dog into space to die is nowhere near as challenging as sending a human being into space and bringing him back alive.

Anyway the Russians deserve credit (more so for Gagarin than for that dog) as do the USA for the achievements in that period.

And if you fail to see the significance of man landing on the moon..then there's no hope!

I'm really not saying landing on the moon wasn't more challenging. Obviously it was. It included the Laika mission and went further.

My point is that in terms of milestones in human achievement, leaving the planet and orbiting it is more significant. Without that modern communication and the Hubble space telescope wouldn't be possible.

The best we can hope for from the moon is an endless supply of cheese and quite frankly I have my doubts about that.

dublinman1990

What a superior legend.

May he Rest in Peace.

The Master of Disaster

1903 - First flight.

1969 - Man lands on the moon.

You know we can be pretty good damn inventive when we set our collective minds to it!

RIP Neil Armstrong. There was a thread in AH a couple of weeks ago about which celebrity death affected you the most and right now I can't think of anyone who would place above him on that list. Most of us look at pictures of earth on our laptops or in books taken by satellites but he got to do it for real and that's pretty damn special.

Mint Sauce

Pilotdude5 wrote: »

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/neil-armstrong-dead-at-age-82-report/story-fn3dxix6-1226458176249

R. I. P.

Its sad to think that its quiet possible all the Apollo astronauts will pass on before humans once again set foot on other rocks.

Or any rock.



Seriously though, RIP.

Ted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtdcdxvNI1o

Zaph

I always liked the fact that I shared a birthday with a genuine legend. The astronauts of the early space programmes were heroes in the truest sense of the word, and Neil Armstrong was always a hero of mine. RIP

Me_Grapes

humbert wrote: »

I'm really not saying landing on the moon wasn't more challenging. Obviously it was. It included the Laika mission and went further.

My point is that in terms of milestones in human achievement, leaving the planet and orbiting it is more significant. Without that modern communication and the Hubble space telescope wouldn't be possible.

The best we can hope for from the moon is an endless supply of cheese and quite frankly I have my doubts about that.

See, posts like this are why this site needs an "unthanks" or a "thumbs down" function.

Fucking blasé hipster attitude.

RIP Mr Armstrong. Wasn't born for the moon landings, and can only imagine what it was like to have witnessed it on TV, but the idea that a human being was able to take a stroll on that bright white orb in the sky never ceases to fill me with awe.

One of histories true heros....in every sense of the word.

As important to me as Einstein or Schrodinger. Yes he didn't have any new revelations but he did what only the rest of us can dream of...no matter what the conspiracists believe.

Zaph

humbert wrote: »

I'm really not saying landing on the moon wasn't more challenging. Obviously it was. It included the Laika mission and went further.

My point is that in terms of milestones in human achievement, leaving the planet and orbiting it is more significant. Without that modern communication and the Hubble space telescope wouldn't be possible.

The best we can hope for from the moon is an endless supply of cheese and quite frankly I have my doubts about that.

If you want to start a thread debating the finer points of what were man's greatest achievements, please feel free to do so, but please don't do it on a condolence thread. Thank you.

humbert

Me_Grapes wrote: »

See, posts like this are why this site needs an "unthanks" or a "thumbs down" function.

I see your point. If you could have expressed your disagreement with the click of a button we might have been saved this baseless rubbish.

Me_Grapes wrote: »

Fucking blasé hipster attitude.

coulagh1986

rip

Duffman2410

RIP. Death of a legend. #hero