Topic: Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, dies

[Bubba]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/us/neil-armstrong-obit/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Ex-airbalancer]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/us/neil-armstrong-obit/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Wow,
 RIP

[dr_spock]

RIP   

[Dexer]

2012 is officially the year I got old. As advancing age has now started to exact it's toll on me, I can think of few things that would make me say that I "feel sorry" for young people.

But I can honestly say say that I pity those not old enough to have grown up during the era of man-made magic.

I was 11 years old in the summer of 1969. To this day, I keep my dad's old Silvertone] B+W TV stashed away in the basement because it's the TV that I was watching when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. To a young boy in 1969, Apollo 11 wasn't just one event...it was the proof of our space age dreams. Every space flight we watched on TV was leading up to this. The space race was on the news every night. This is what we grew up with. Everyday it was a new flight or new test: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, first flights of the Saturn 1B and the Saturn V. We were living IN the space race.

Optimism was boundless. Even the worst of human conditions were seen as problems which we would work to solve. I had no concept of "giving up". Every boy my age knew darn well he'd be walking on Mars. I have my old McGraw-Hill ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPACE with the NASA timetable estimating the first manned Mars landing in 1980. Our teachers told us that "The first man on Mars has already been born and he's in school right now". We knew it was true and I have no doubt that out teachers believed it was true.

It really was the age of magic.

Of course, our dreams did not come true. The magic disappeared.

But, although the magic disappeared, it did exist on this Earth and our moon for about a decade. I am thankful that I was born into that decade.

I can think of nothing that can ever match it. Even when man does set foot on Mars, in 40 or 100 years from now, only Neil Armstrong can claim the honour of having been the first man to set foot on another celestial body. And only those who lived during that short era can honestly say they "felt" it.

[sailor723]

^ +1

I remember us all getting up very early (covrage started around 4 or 5 AM here in the Maritimes I think) to watch the landing. I would have been 10 at the time but I knew something very special was happening. You're right Dexter, it was a time of boundless optimism and confidence. Popular Mechanics and Popular Science had us all convinced that we'd all be flying to work by the now and that we'd have a colony on the moon.

Everytime I read of the passing of an icon from my youth I feel a little bit older.

[Snowman]

RIP Neil. Watched every second on TV of the Apollo Missions, the peak of Mankind's technological advancement. 

[Cord]

I can remember badgering my mother to buy me an Apollo coloring book. My excitement dimmed when I pulled out my trusty Crayola 8-pack and realized everything was mostly black or white. 

[vdk]

A hero from when mankind had a purpose, a vision of something greater. Now we dream of money and worship Steve Jobs.

[Julie]

RIP. 

[johngenx]

Armstrong was a BADA$$!!  He was a test pilot and cheated death many times before he went to the moon.  Then, the lunar landing module was supposed to be landed via autopilot, but the programmed landing area was strewn with boulders.  Armstrong took the controls manually, and found a better landing spot.  He had a very limited amount of fuel, but landed with EXACTLY the minimum needed to take off.

He was well into his 70's when he was confronted by one of those moon-landing-fake f#cktards, and what did Armstrong do?  Whupped his a$$!

RIP, a real hero, and I'll have a sip of 18yr old Scotch and tip my hat to a guy that needed a dump truck to carry his balls.  The world needs more like him...

[Triple Bob]

2012 is officially the year I got old. As advancing age has now started to exact it's toll on me, I can think of few things that would make me say that I "feel sorry" for young people.

But I can honestly say say that I pity those not old enough to have grown up during the era of man-made magic.

I was 11 years old in the summer of 1969. To this day, I keep my dad's old Silvertone] B+W TV stashed away in the basement because it's the TV that I was watching when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. To a young boy in 1969, Apollo 11 wasn't just one event...it was the proof of our space age dreams. Every space flight we watched on TV was leading up to this. The space race was on the news every night. This is what we grew up with. Everyday it was a new flight or new test: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, first flights of the Saturn 1B and the Saturn V. We were living IN the space race.

Optimism was boundless. Even the worst of human conditions were seen as problems which we would work to solve. I had no concept of "giving up". Every boy my age knew darn well he'd be walking on Mars. I have my old McGraw-Hill ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPACE with the NASA timetable estimating the first manned Mars landing in 1980. Our teachers told us that "The first man on Mars has already been born and he's in school right now". We knew it was true and I have no doubt that out teachers believed it was true.

It really was the age of magic.

Of course, our dreams did not come true. The magic disappeared.

But, although the magic disappeared, it did exist on this Earth and our moon for about a decade. I am thankful that I was born into that decade.

I can think of nothing that can ever match it. Even when man does set foot on Mars, in 40 or 100 years from now, only Neil Armstrong can claim the honour of having been the first man to set foot on another celestial body. And only those who lived during that short era can honestly say they "felt" it.

I appreciate what you are saying, but...

It's easy to see negative things around us, but there is also lots positive going on too.  I would have loved to have been around during the space race, and I also would have loved to have seen a shuttle launch.  But there are still innovations going on with commercial flight, space flight, cars (Bloodhound SSC), underwater exploration and other inspirational activities that are seeing good investment and are interesting for adults and kids alike.

I know it may not seem like it when the news these days is always doom and gloom, but there is still lots of amazing things going on in the world.  And much of it outside of North America too.

R.I.P. Neil.

[Dexer]

But there are still innovations going on with commercial flight, space flight, cars (Bloodhound SSC), underwater exploration and other inspirational activities that are seeing good investment and are interesting for adults and kids alike.

Not even close.

[johngenx]

Basic research is vital, and not performed by private industry.  They focus on research and development, which always has a commercial end result.  Even universities, now tied to grants from private sources, are losing their focus on basic research.

The "space race" gave us massive amounts of technology found during the development period of the moon program.  All based on a non-commercial enterprise that not only had no hope of turning a profit, but cost taxpayers a huge amount.  But, the long term ramifications were profound.

[tpl]

True... but most of it was R&D done by engineers with a specific goal in mind.   Depends I suppose on what you call "basic research"  Perimeter Institute? Advanced Studies at Princeton? CERN?  or maybe PARC, IBM White Plains or Even Microsoft Research  division.

[johngenx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_research

Done less and less.  A great deal of it was still being done in the 1950's and into the 1960's.  Much of the applied research of the space program come from ground breaking basic research.  However, the Apollo program would never have existed in a commercial grant-based world.  The commercial benefits were decades away, and no way it would survive an ROI analysis.

Today, more and more research has to have a financial justification.  We're losing our curiosity and instead focusing on dollars.  NASA is constantly under fire for "losing money."  NASA's budget is tiny, but it's a magnet for criticism.  Mostly, I think, due to a desire of certain factions in the US to undermine science and return religion to the forefront of policy decisions to keep control over people.

[vdk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_research

Done less and less.  A great deal of it was still being done in the 1950's and into the 1960's.  Much of the applied research of the space program come from ground breaking basic research.  However, the Apollo program would never have existed in a commercial grant-based world.  The commercial benefits were decades away, and no way it would survive an ROI analysis.

Today, more and more research has to have a financial justification.  We're losing out curiosity and instead focusing on dollars.  NASA is constantly under fire for "losing money."  NASA's budget is tiny, but it's a magnet for criticism.  Mostly, I think, due to a desire of certain factions in the US to undermine science and return religion to the forefront of policy decisions to keep control over people.

[Snowman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_research

Done less and less.  A great deal of it was still being done in the 1950's and into the 1960's.  Much of the applied research of the space program come from ground breaking basic research.  However, the Apollo program would never have existed in a commercial grant-based world.  The commercial benefits were decades away, and no way it would survive an ROI analysis.

Today, more and more research has to have a financial justification.  We're losing out curiosity and instead focusing on dollars.  NASA is constantly under fire for "losing money."  NASA's budget is tiny, but it's a magnet for criticism.  Mostly, I think, due to a desire of certain factions in the US to undermine science and return religion to the forefront of policy decisions to keep control over people.

 

[Dexer]

I was just checking out a couple of videos and this still chokes me up.

I heard a scientist make an interesting observation about Apollo 11 yesterday. He said that we really didn't have the technology to do what we did and it shouldn't have been possible. But we did it with the force of pure human ambition and dedication.

THAT is what we don't have today. When President Kennedy made his speech proposing to do this, he said that, "We choose to go to the moon and do the other things NOT because they are easy but because they are hard." The idea that we would choose to do something because it is hard is an idea lost on most people today.

The human spiritual boost of doing the impossible is something that I don't think people will EVER see again. And I mean that quite literally.

Check these two videos.

The first is coverage of the Apollo 11 launch. In 1969, Canadian stations carried American coverage so this is what we saw in Canada:

http://youtu.be/TmHABUfjYPI

Next, is coverage of the landing. Most of it is just bad animation with voice over from Cronkite and Wally Schirra. It you can't sit through it all, fast forward to 7:30 and watch the emotion from these two middle-aged guys.

http://youtu.be/sJv5_y2l5as

[Triple Bob]

But there are still innovations going on with commercial flight, space flight, cars (Bloodhound SSC), underwater exploration and other inspirational activities that are seeing good investment and are interesting for adults and kids alike.

Not even close.

Whatever. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

[tpl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_research

Done less and less.  A great deal of it was still being done in the 1950's and into the 1960's.  Much of the applied research of the space program come from ground breaking basic research.  However, the Apollo program would never have existed in a commercial grant-based world.  The commercial benefits were decades away, and no way it would survive an ROI analysis.

Today, more and more research has to have a financial justification.  We're losing our curiosity and instead focusing on dollars.  NASA is constantly under fire for "losing money."  NASA's budget is tiny, but it's a magnet for criticism.  Mostly, I think, due to a desire of certain factions in the US to undermine science and return religion to the forefront of policy decisions to keep control over people.

There I 100% agree with you. The really worst  are these scum who keep on trying to put religion and anti-science into schools.  Religion is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on humanity.