Thomas Endersby
Staff Writer
Neil Armstrong recently declared of the moon that , “It’s an interesting place to be. I recommend it”. Perhaps this is how we should remember him best; as a humble and intelligent man who shaped our worldly outlook forever.
Neil was born on August 5th 1930 in Ohio; the eldest of his siblings. His love affair with stepping away from terra firma to take to the air and later space began early in his life. At two Neil was taken by his father Stephen to The Cleveland Air Races and within four years he took to the air for the first time. His passion for aeronautics shaped his career from an early age, at 16 he gained a pilot’s license and one year later he began his study of Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University on a United States Navy scholarship.
Midway through his education Neil was called to fly as a Navy pilot in the Korean War. He flew 78 combat missions and was decorated with three medals in recognition of his outstanding service to his country.
He first became associated with NASA as we know it today when he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as test pilot and engineer. Armstrong’s colleagues admired his marriage of technical knowledge and natural flying instinct. It was remarked that he, “had a mind that absorbed things like a sponge” another facet to his praised engineering ability.
Had it not been for his reputation as at NASA Neil may never have ventured into space, his application to be considered as an astronaut arrived a week later than the deadline stipulated, but his former co-worker Dick Day slipped it into the pile before anybody noticed the mistake. This was the beginning of Armstrong’s greatest phase of both his life and his career.
At 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969 Armstrong made history as the first man to step foot on the moon. In the hours preceding him setting his left boot on lunar soil Armstrong had piloted the Eagle; the vehicle that transported him and his fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface. The planned landing site was overshot by several miles and Armstrong took it upon himself to fly the Eagle to the nearest clearing where he felt he could safely land; touching down with just 40 seconds worth of fuel reserves remaining. His training and instinct for flight were never more useful than that celebrated day.
The words synonymous with his first moon walk are part of how we have and will continue to honour this legendary man now and in the future – His phrase, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” is known in every household in the English-speaking world and is one of the defining statements of the past century.
Throughout the rest of his life Armstrong remained shy and reserved, continuing to work closely with NASA in various capacities but refusing to capitalise personally on his fame and historical importance.
It is a sad loss for today’s world to no longer have such a talented, inspirational and humble being as Neil Armstrong; men like him are few and far between in the twenty first century. Perhaps it is the romance that we hold for the men and women pushing the frontiers of possibility on our planet and in space that mark this man in the annals of time and in our hearts and minds as a true hero of human nature.
Earlier this month the Curiosity Rover landed on the surface of Mars; NASA latest venture into the unknown, but somehow despite being a technological feat sending a robot to even the most far flung planet or galaxy will never hold the same excitement for the world. Everyone alive in the sixties remembers where they were when this great man stepped foot on our moon, yet few batted an eyelid at the landing of the Curiosity Rover. We cannot venerate a robot.
In life and now in death Neil Armstrong has been and is an inspiration to us all to strive to further ourselves and our race to touch the boundaries of what we can do and to nudge them ever further. He is a reminder to us all of how much we have achieved and how much we continue to achieve as we enter a new age of innovation.
Yesterday we lost one of the greatest explorers of our age and in his wake a legacy greatness is left for all us to remember fondly and to pass on to future generations.
