Neil Armstrong just passed away

I allow myself the small conceit that somewhere, in some form, the being who went by the name Neil Armstrong now rests in the same place of peaceful repose as Carl Sagan, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Gus Grissom and the crew of Apollo 1, Ron McNair, Christa McAuliffe and the other crew of the Challenger shuttle, the crew of the Columbia and all those others who blazed the trail into space and who are now no longer with us any more.

May he find his way, to take his rightful place among the Elect.
 
Neil Armstrong's greatest achievement was not the trip to the moon itself, but the way he behaved after he returned to Earth. He never abused his fame and never cheapened it by over-exposure. His modesty and self-effacing nature represented an alternative vision of heroism that we sadly see little of in public life. Armstrong was always careful to give full credit to his fellow astronauts and the hundreds of engineers who worked on the Apollo program, making the moon landing possible. Indeed, his soft-spoken humility sold the achievements of the Apollo program in a way that a slick marketing campaign never could. But he was also a poet when the occasion demanded it - the impromptu decision to name the landing site "Tranquility Base" was sheer genius, as were his famous words as he stepped from the lander.
 
And the world is a poorer place for it.

Something that the White House published - the speech which was ready (but, thankfully, never needed) had Apollo 11 never returned. In many ways it's quite a fitting goodbye, especially the closing sentiments:

Moon-disaster-459x600.jpg
 
He was among the best of us. Having the courage of landing on the moon, despite the risks and the fact he nearly died a couple of times on the way during the space program. He will be sorely missed.
 
Death like birth is the natural order of things. However, heroes cause us to look up and see the world differently. Neil Armstrong was one such hero. For he took what was of this fragile blue cradle and put it on another world(let). It was the first step, in a much larger drama of exploration of the frontiers both natural and of the mind. We, as a species, have forgotten this in the 43 years or so. But, there are some of us, who will never forget and just as Prometheus gifted mankind fire and things were never the same. Neil Armstrong made the moon and beyond that much more accessible. The torch has had struggle against some pretty strong headwind in these 43 years but I believe the human spirit is indomitable and we will leave this cradle and grow up amongst the stars. Thank you Neil for bringing that one step closer, for the giant leap that awaits us in the future.

So, I do mourn the passing of Neil Armstrong, but, let us use this opportunity to talk about the birth of something new. Otherwise, he is merely a man not a hero.
 
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