Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, and United States Naval Aviator. He was the first person to set foot on the Moon. Read more
In yesterday's post, I talked about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's walk across the lunar surface back in 1969 and wondered, how come they walked such a modest distance? Less than a hundred yards from their lander?
Today Neil Armstrong wrote in to say, here are the reasons:
* It was really, really hot on the moon, 200 degrees Fahrenheit. We needed protection.
* We were wearing new-fangled, water-cooled uniforms and didn't know how long the coolant would last. Read more
Neil Armstrong paid tribute yesterday to the spacemen who died paving the way for his 1969 Moonwalk as President Obama prepared to honour him and his Apollo 11 crewmates in Washington today for the 40th anniversary of their historic mission. In a rare public appearance, the first man on the Moon spoke of the colleagues who gave their lives for Americas early space programme and how their sacrifice laid the foundations for his spectacular lunar debut.
Why Neil Armstrong remains an elusive hero Forty years after the lunar module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility, the Moon landing continues to captivate. The Space Race may have been a child of the Cold War but its ultimate expression, the Apollo series of lunar expeditions, transcended politics, presenting Man with the first full view of his delicate little world. The greatest technological triumph of the 20th Century was the product of eight feverish years of research and development, $150 billion (at today's prices) and 400,000 people. At the centre of it all was the 38-year-old son of a minor civil servant from a small town in the Ohio corn belt.
Competition: Win a piece of moon rock The competition is simple to enter. Neil Armstrong said "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Can you think of something better for him to have said.
In the Dumfriesshire town of Langholm they still talk about the day Neil Armstrong came to visit. It was 11 March, 1972, almost three years after the first Moon landing, but there had been no dimming of his stardom. The first man to set foot on the Moon was in the Muckle Toon, seat of his Scottish ancestors, to receive the freedom of the burgh. Armstrong's Rolls-Royce pulled up in the bunting-decked town square, then he and his wife Janet strolled, waving, through the thronging crowds, accompanied by the Provost, a police escort and a pipe band.
Former astronaut Neil Armstrong will be given his honorary degree from Edinburgh University in Washington DC later this week. The ceremony is part of a series of events designed to celebrate the university's strong ties with the United States.