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[orange]

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.

[Casiella]

Yeah, I loved that.

And I dunno about you, but the first man to walk on another world after manually piloting that ship? And having the balls to say "yeah we'll do our own launch from here"?

I can't think of anybody I admire more. Certainly there are a few others I'll classify with him (like, say, Aldrin, although I like him less on a personal level, and Magellan, and Gagarin)... but there aren't many others whose names will last forever like his.

[Ken]

but there aren't many others whose names will last forever like his.

I hope Sagan's name is among those, but yes, Armstrong is pretty much guaranteed an important namesake settlement on the Moon.

What I admire most about the man was that after he became a major historic icon, he basically pulled a Cincinnatus.  Availed of every honor and any position or privilege he could have asked for, the man went home and became a teacher.  Humility.

[Lyn Farel]

(like, say, Aldrin, although I like him less on a personal level, and Magellan, and Gagarin).

I read Aldrith at first.

I guess he has that effect.

[BloodBird]

I don't believe in the 'one of the greatest heroes of modern times' thing, but here's to you.

Is this because of your definition of hero or because you do not think it took heroism to do what he and others did?

No, more like there is a small part of me that wonder if the first-ever moon-landing was legit at all, or a clever ploy to beat the Soviets to the finish-line. I was rather torn between saluting a great person who has passed away and not doing so at all due to questioning his 'greatness'. I decided to compromise on the middle, as it was.

All but irrelevant though, Armstrong did great work and deserve his salute, at the very least.

[Ken]

there is a small part of me that wonder if the first-ever moon-landing was legit at all

 

[Gottii]

there is a small part of me that wonder if the first-ever moon-landing was legit at all

 

 

[orange]

there is a small part of me that wonder if the first-ever moon-landing was legit at all

 

Moon Landing Sketch.  Mitchell & Webb take a funny stab at the discussion.

In addition, here are recent pictures taken by LRO of 5 of 6 Lunar landing locations.

[Casiella]

Bloodbird, that's about equivalent to believing in ancient astronauts and a 6000 year old earth.

Yes, I'm serious.

edit due to reading fail

[ArtOfLight]

RIP Neil Armstrong and thank you for both your humility and service. May there be more like you in the future of our race.

[Lyn Farel]

Watching it again makes that apollo capsule look incredibly primitive. Got a lot of nerves to jump into that piece of "junk" to go to the moon (that's how it looks, not actually what it is, especially in the late 60's).

[Z.Sinraali]

So many dead astronauts lately. Very sad.

[Jev North]

Watching it again makes that apollo capsule look incredibly primitive. Got a lot of nerves to jump into that piece of "junk" to go to the moon (that's how it looks, not actually what it is, especially in the late 60's).

I remember a story around the opening of the Iron Curtain, when an ESA delagation went to visit the Baikonur cosmodrome and witnessed a crew working on a Russian rocket - hammering in rivets with sledgehammers. Which chilled the ESA people to the bone, because if you hit an Ariane V with a hammer, it breaks. Veracity somewhat disputed, but contains grains of truth about the general Russian approach to engineering, I think..

[orange]

Watching it again makes that apollo capsule look incredibly primitive. Got a lot of nerves to jump into that piece of "junk" to go to the moon (that's how it looks, not actually what it is, especially in the late 60's).

I remember a story around the opening of the Iron Curtain, when an ESA delagation went to visit the Baikonur cosmodrome and witnessed a crew working on a Russian rocket - hammering in rivets with sledgehammers. Which chilled the ESA people to the bone, because if you hit an Ariane V with a hammer, it breaks. Veracity somewhat disputed, but contains grains of truth about the general Russian approach to engineering, I think..

ESA's culture is very much based on NASA's culture, in which high performance systems are built with exacting precision.  From what I have read, Russian methodology is more brute force, solving engineering problems with straightforward approaches.

The approach simplifies the engineering, but also limits what the system is capable of doing.   There are bits and pieces of the Soviet Lunar program lying around.  N-1 Rocket  LK

The USSR LK vs the USA LM really shows the result of the different design philosophies when it comes to rockets and spacecraft, where mass is of critical importance.

However, with precision, comes less margin for error.

[Syylara/Yaansu]

"American components, Russian components...

ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!"