E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAstronaut Neil Armstrong awed the entire planet when he became the first man to step foot on the moon in 1969. He died Saturday at age 82. NBC's Tom Costello reports on Armstrong's life and legacy.
First moonwalker Neil Armstrong's death at the age of 82 marks the passing of a "reluctant American hero," as well as the dimming of the Space Age's brightest moment.
His death followed complications from heart-bypass surgery he underwent this month, Armstrong's family said today in a statement released by NASA. The first public report of Armstrong's death came via NBC News' Cape Canaveral correspondent, Jay Barbree, a longtime friend.
Armstrong has been immortalized in human history as the first human to set foot on a celestial body beyond Earth. "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," he radioed back to Earth from the moon on July 20, 1969.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that "as long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them."
Armstrong's fellow moonwalker on the Apollo 11 mission, Buzz Aldrin, was among the legions mourning his passage. "We are missing a great spokesman and leader in the space program," Aldrin said in a BBC interview. He said he'd remember Armstrong "as being a very capable commander and leader of an achievement that will be recognized until man sets foot on the planet Mars."
Michael Collins, the crewmate who circled the moon in the Apollo 11 command module while Armstrong and Aldrin took that first trip to the lunar surface, also paid tribute to his commander in a NASA statement: "He was the best, and I will miss him terribly."
President Barack Obama said that Armstrong and his crew "carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation," and that the first steps on the moon "delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."
NBC's Jay Barbree, who has covered every manned space mission in U.S. history, was first to break the news that Neil Armstrong had died. He discusses the astronaut's life with NBC's Lester Holt.
"Today, Neil's spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown — including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space," Obama said in a White House statement. "That legacy will endure — sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step."
The "one small step" served as the climax of a superpower space race with the Soviet Union, and arguably established the United States' primacy in outer space for decades to come. But Apollo 11 also set a precedent for peaceful cooperation in space. "We came in peace for all mankind," the plaque left behind on the moon read. At one point during Armstrong's first moonwalk, he stopped for what he called a "tender moment" and set down a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who died in the course of their duties.
Before and after the moon
The Ohio-born Armstrong began his career in aerospace as a Navy fighter pilot who served with distinction in the Korean War. During the 1950s, he was a test pilot with experience flying more than 200 kinds of aircraft. He was accepted into NASA's second astronaut class in 1962, and during his mission as Gemini 8 commander in 1966, he tamed his wildly spinning capsule and brought it in for an emergency landing.
See images from the career of astronaut and American hero Neil Armstrong.
That quiet cool served him well during Apollo 11, when he had to take manual control of the lunar module, nicknamed Eagle, during the landing. When the craft touched down in the moon's Sea of Tranquility, about 30 seconds' worth of fuel remained.
"Houston, Tranquility Base here," Armstrong reported to Mission Control. "The Eagle has landed."
Armstrong and Aldrin spent more than 21 hours on the lunar surface, including two and a half hours' worth of moonwalking. They were amazed to come back to Earth and see how millions of people across the planet had followed their exploits. "Neil, look up there," Aldrin told him as he pointed at a TV screen. "We missed the whole thing."
After his moon mission, Armstrong took a low profile, becoming what his family called a "reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job." He left NASA in 1971, and took on executive positions in the aerospace industry as well as a teaching position in the University of Cincinnati's engineering department. Armstrong served on several policy commissions, including the presidential panel that investigated the 1986 Challenger explosion.
Concerned about future spaceflight
In his latter years, Armstrong became increasingly concerned about America's continuing leadership in space. He was a strong proponent of efforts to send American astronauts back to the moon, and feared that NASA's cancellation of its return-to-the-moon program would cede America's position as a leader in space exploration to other nations.
"Some question why America should return to the moon," Armstrong told a House committee in 2010. "'After all,' they say, 'we have already been there.' I find that mystifying. It would be as if 16th-century monarchs proclaimed that 'we need not go to the New World, we have already been there.'"
When NBC's Jay Barbree asked Armstrong last month to reflect on the future of spaceflight, for the 43rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, the former astronaut pointed to remarks in which he said the lunar environment was "an exceptional location to learn about traveling to more distant places."
"I am persuaded that a return to the moon would be the most productive path to expanding the human presence in the solar system," he wrote.
Armstrong was famous for staying out of fame's spotlight as much as he could. Some outsiders may have faulted him for his reticence, but not his fellow astronauts.
"Most of our group in those days could have accomplished the challenge of the mission," Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham told NBC News' James Oberg in an email, "but I do not know a one that could have handled the resulting notoriety as well as Neil did."
Over the past year, Armstrong was a bit more in the public eye. Last November, he and other space pioneers — including Aldrin, Collins and John Glenn, the first American in orbit — were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
In February, Armstrong spoke at Ohio State University during a February event honoring the 50th anniversary of Glenn's history-making spaceflight. In May, Armstrong joined Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida to support the opening of the National Flight Academy, which aims to teach math and science to kids through an aviation-oriented camp.
On Aug. 7, just two days after his 82nd birthday, Armstrong underwent quadruple-bypass heart surgery after flunking a medical stress test. At the time, his wife, Carol, reported that her husband was "doing great" — but today the family said complications from that surgery led to his death.
Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon and his now famous first words.
"While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves," the family said in today's statement. "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."
Armstrong is survived by his wife, two sons, a stepson and stepdaughter, 10 grandchildren, a brother and a sister, NASA said. A website, NeilArmstrongInfo.com, has been created to provide more information about Armstrong's life and legacy.
Quick bites about Neil Armstrong:
- Armstrong's interest in flight began in childhood: He earned his student pilot's certificate on his 16th birthday, before he got an automobile driver's license. "He never had a girl. He didn't need a car. All he had to do was get out to that airport," Armstrong's father was quoted as saying in the astronaut's biography, "First Man."
- Armstrong's pulse was measured at 150 beats per minute as he guided the lunar lander to the moon's surface, NASA said. "I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats," Armstrong once said. "I don't intend to waste any of mine."
- Asked about his experience on the moon, he told CBS: "It's an interesting place to be. I recommend it."
- A crater on the moon is named for Armstrong. It is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the site of the landing.
- In 2005 Armstrong was upset to learn that his barber had sold clippings of his hair to a collector for $3,000. The man who bought the hair refused to return it, saying he was adding it to his collection of locks from Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein and others.
- Although he was famously reticent, Armstrong once appeared in a TV commercial for Chrysler. He said he made the ad because of Chrysler's engineering history and his desire to help the company out of financial troubles.
More about Neil Armstrong's life and legacy:
- Armstrong family request: Wink at the moon
- President and VIPs pay tribute to Neil Armstrong
- Internet responds to first moonwalker's death
- Debunking nine myths about Neil Armstrong
- Slideshow: A look back at an American hero's life
- Timeline: Glory Days on the Final Frontier
- What we didn't know about the moonwalk
- Neil Armstrong would still choose to go to the moon
- Video: NBC's initial report on Neil Armstrong's death
- Video: NBC's Bruce Hall recaps Neil Armstrong's career
- Video: Friends reflect on Neil Armstrong's passing
Editor's note: An early headline on this story briefly misstated Neil Armstrong's name.
This report was last updated at 12:30 a.m. ET Aug. 26 and includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
R.I.P. Neil Armstrong
Msnbc should be ashamed, His name was Neil Armstrong. Yikes !
Did not take them long to fix that mistake.... Thank you !
Neil Armstrong...
a TRUE American Hero
so very classy,
such a gentleman.
.......
and so much more respectable than the other Armstrong who capitalized on his doped up "achievements".
.
.
I saw that too and was pretty upset about it... I had to refresh and make sure I was reading it correctly. I am glad they fixed it. may he RIP
What's with this sudden rash of famous people dying? It seems like every day now we hear about someone famous dying. The article said that Armstrong has largely remained out of public view, but I remember him speaking out just recently against the changes in NASA. But I agree. R.I.P. Neil Armstrong!
a true American hero!Rest in peace!
"and hiw wife"
For some reason, I had a feeling he might die after seeing some of the latest pictures. He didn't look well.
R.I.P. Neil......
What a shame. Neil Armstrong was a true American hero in every sense of the word.
Rest in Peace!
RIP Neil Armstrong.
And NBC, I guess the re-org/split of MSNBC and NBC.com did NOTHING to improve your quality control. Still crappy as usual.
When I used to make a mistake at work maybe 4 or 5 people would know about it. Must suck to have a job like this.
RIP Mr. Armstrong. You were a great American Hero.
Neil Armstrong, you were one of the greatest American hero's of our time. RIP
One small step for a man One large step for an Earthly Hero
Astronaut Neil Armstrong and NASA complete the greatest achievement of the 20th century, by becoming the first man and program to walk on the moon.
NBCNews.com completes the greatest failing headline of the decade, by messing up the man's name trying to become the first to break the story.
Roger, thank you for catching that glaring mistake. There is a BIG difference between Neil Armstrong and Neil Young! It was corrected by the time I read this article.
Astronaut Armstrong was not only a hero, but a trailblazer! May he rest in peace and soar as high as he likes now.
LOL Neil Young might have something to say about being considered dead! LOL OOPS.
RIP Neil Armstrong. Your amazing legacy will never be forgotten!
With the way MSNBC has been reporting and editing stories the past 3 1/2 years, this doesn't surprise me of an incorrect name. The media in our country has really gone to the gutter due to the liberals. It is truly sad we have to go to Britain, Russia or other countries to get the truth on what is happening here in the states. (All 57 states. Ok Barry)
R.I.P. NEIL ARMSTRONG A TRUE AMERICAN HERO!!
Armstrong walked on the moon...Young was in a burned out basement with the full moon in his eyes...that should clear it up.
RIP Neil Armstrong...one of the last of the American heroes.
Seriously MSNBC!!! Rest in peace, Neil ARMSTRONG!!
Another American hero has gone. We are impoverished by Neil Armstrong's passing.
Neil Armstrong:
The Greatest Feat ever!---The first man to walk on the Moon---"That's One Small Step for Man""; One Giant Leap for Mankind".
Who could ever forget this moment watching it on a Black and White TV.
Outstanding Hero! An Inspiration for a Lifetime! May he find peace in the after, as he found adventure in his pre days before he died.
Hey Fuzzy...what was FOX's excuse for getting the health care decision wrong for almost 20 minutes? I mean I understand thea calling someone the wrong name for a few minutes is far more outrageous than spending nearly a half hour saying that the Supreme Court had ruled the complete OPPOSITE of what they had.
Yes, that was a terrible mistake, I know the person who hurriedly typed that must feel terrible about that. As someone who's made more than his share of errors, I can see how that can happen in the heat of the moment. Very sorry about that. But I hope we can turn our focus to the legacy of a great man rather than a grievous error that was quickly corrected.
wow, to think as long as history is written, his name will appear, first human being to walk on the moon, what a legacy.
May he rest in peace. He was another wonderful role model for young people with larger than life aspirations. And a great example of what our tax dollars are capable of besides taking care of widows and orphans, exploration and research!
Alex Droogs,
"Here come the doubters !"
There is already a doubter on page 7 who call himself Judah7. He claims the moon landing was just a hoax.
i was 4 years old when he went to space i remember so many of them lauches rip you will be so miss a great man
Fly on Neil... fly on.
As for the idiots at MSNBC, you should all have your citizenship stripped for not knowing the correct name. That is absolutely inexcusable and I will no longer use this site as my homepage.
Neil Armstrong? The bicycle dude?!
At least someone quickly corrected the name, probably after someone in the office pointed it out. But it was not the Apollo 11 module that landed on the moon. It was the Eagle Lunar module which was designed for the descent and landing.
These copy editors are probably very young, just getting started, and not well paid in the competitive market of internet news. How many were actually around when the events of this story unfolded? Some of us can remember exactly where we were, who we were with, and what we were doing at that time.
RIP Neil Armstrong. It's just a pity short sighted political hacks never saw the value of continued moon missions.
Roger;
Easy mistake for MSN, Niel Young was higher than a bat's ass most of the time, so they got him confused as being on the moon.
Mr Binkie;
No, the bicycle dude is LANCE Armstrong.
Everyone has their own personal 'countdown' till we leave this world and are brought into the heavens above; Neil Armstrong's 'countdown' just reached the point of 'lift off'; Godspeed Armstrong.
Humorous to see how many imperfect people have so much to say about a tiny little imperfection. Newsflash: It doesn't make you smarter or less imperfect, it amplifies your arrogance, ego and stupidity. Neil Armstrong would have understood and that's why he is a hero and you are a zero. RIP
Leland from Detroit
WHATS YOUR POINT? MSNBC HAS BEEN missing the point a lot lately. Wrong names, putting wrong pics in, editing to their liken. Just deliberately changing the news for their good. It is one thing to make an honest mistake and another to deliberately change it for your own good. That's the difference with Fox and NBC! NBC is going for their ratings and fraudulently editing.
I just dont know what to say about this, but that we all lost a great man and a Roll Model for all of us.
I am dumbstruck at the thought that th great Neil Armstrong has passed!
@ RI Mom, your comment was appropriate on the lost of an American Hero. Unfortunately, you couldn't leave well enough alone. This is not the place for discussion of Lance Armstrong. Additionally, *many people would not agree with you. The USADA is strongly suspected to have political and finacial motivations. Please learn more about of what you speak, beyond the short clips from television news channels.
I am saddened that there was no mention of the details of the first lunar landing. That the planned landing site was covered with rocks and unsuitable. That Armstrong had to manually pilot the lander to a suitable location nearby. That he had less than 10 seconds of fuel remaining when he landed - and this is why his heart rate was 150 beats per minute (mine would be much higher in that scenario). No mention of his Gemini 8 mechanical failure and emergency re-entry/landing. No mention of his ejection from a lunar lander prototype test while 200 feet in the air. No mention of his ability to be calm in the most stressful situations known to man.
Armstrong was a true hero. We will all miss him.
Let's stick with the fact a great courageous pioneer has died , and not debate news channels for crying out loud. RIP Neil Alden Armstrong!
Rest in peace.
I can remember that historic event! It was INCREDIBLE (still is)! What a different world we lived in...VERY different from the world that we now live in. There was a very fine line of demarcation which separated the generations. On one side were the "Old School" men, with a fedorah on top of their very short, slicked back hair and a grey suit to match. The women had that June Cleaver look going on, being very nicely dressed even if the day wasn't special. Then on the other side were those whose destiny-found was breaking away from the pack to establish a new look which mirrored an entirely new attitude and philosophy on life. This NEW idea was rooted in the desperate pursuit of NOT becoming their parents! However, the money ran out, the kids came out, and it simply was no longer affordable for them to play Hippie any more. Do you see those men and women with the shopping carts pushing along the garbage bags full of their treasures? These are the Peter Pans...those who refuse to surrender! Homeless and wandering aimlessly, they now pursue empty bottles and cans for the nickles ahile waiting for the clock to run down, telling them that "time's up!"
He was one of the last genuine American heroes.
I also love to hear the details of Neil Armstrong's piloting skills - he took over from the overloaded computer on the lunar lander and did what only a great human pilot could do. There is an X-15 hanging in the lobby of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum (with the Spirit of St, Louis, the Wright Flyer, and the Bell X-1) that Armstrong flew to an altitude record. He was an excellent choice for pilot of the first lunar lander - a skillful and lucky test pilot (surviving test pilots are all very skillful and lucky.)
What a legacy... I hope that one day soon, we as a nation send explorers to the Moon once again, and beyond!
RIP Mr. Armstrong
Rest in peace fearless flier.
Condolences to the family and friends. The world lost a great hero.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
I was not yet born when Neil Armstrong was born or when he stepped on the moon, but I will always remember the day he died. I mourn his lost, and expect him to be memorialized forever.
If I hurt anyone’s feelings with my previous post, I apologize. I don’t normally jump on someone’s mistakes; but given the importance of the situation, you can see how people are upset. I get 90% of my news from NBCNews.com and expect better quality assurance from a multi-million dollar news organization.
Media Hypocracy
If someone at FOX News had made this same gaff instead of arch liberal MSNBC, the liberal progressive pundants, Current TV, Media Matters, Huffington Post would be on this for days mocking "FAUX" News. Naturally, all the above mentioned will get a pass because none of their own will EVER be called out for such a stupid mistake. Naw, progressive liberals NEVER make these kinds of mistakes and you will not see very much being said by them, hoping the up and coming Convention coverage will provide them with the much needed excuse of not appearing to be deliberately hiding or down playing this stupid mistake. Also, they will cry out that the conservatives and the nasty right wing are trying to use this stupid mistake as a distraction from the recent stupid Republican stir about rape, about which the liberal media has spent tons tons of time celebrating and cramming down our throats.
Neil Armstrong dies right after Lance Armstrong gets busted for cheating & lying.. coincidence?
Larry, so what some intern made a mistake. They fixed it a few minutes later. Everything doesn't have to be some kind of left vs. right contest.
These messages should be in tribute to Neil Armstrong, and the great accomplishments. I recommend taking a break from the political bs once in awhile...
LarryLeBlanc,
"If someone at FOX News had made this same gaff instead of arch liberal MSNBC, the liberal progressive pundants, Current TV, Media Matters, Huffington Post would be on this for days mocking "FAUX" News."
No. Fox News just revealed a Navy SEAL's real identity, thus putty his wife and family in danger, but that's nothing nearly as bad as getting someone's name wrong.
We were running on the surface in the South China Sea aboard a submarine, I was in the sail on watch, I distinctly remember looking up at the moon, when those guys were walking on the lunar surface, it was so amazing, I remember it so clearly, and that was almost 45 years ago. Rest in peace Neil, and all the other of our Astronauts who gave our space program their all. We salute you!!
Larry LeBlanc, take your BS some place else. The difference between MSNBC and Fake News is their reporting the wrong name was a legitimate error, where as Fake News would have DELIBERATELY put some right-wing/fascist spin on it such as, "Big government spender Neil Armstrong dies after spending billions of tax-payer dollars on a failed government program."
@Fuzzy-0457 and all the other "anyone is better than that Mooslum in the Whitehouse" idiots: The downward slide in the quality of on-line news reporting began long before the current PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was elected to Office. In fact, it started while the previous PoTUS -- George W. Bush -- was in Office. When a news headline and article are allowed to be published with mis-information and/or just plain wrong information, it shows that there is a problem with the PROOF-READING -- not the Government.
To blame only one person -- and a person who has NO actual connection to the problem at hand -- for the failing of at least 2 people is not just stupid, it is ignorant.
GOD'S SPEED...... Mr. Armstrong............ YOUR Picture should be next to the WORD HERO, in the DICTIONARY...........
Neil Armstrong died in the same month of a "Blue Moon." I just cracked open a Blue Moon in his honor.
Barlow,
"We were running on the surface in the South China Sea aboard a submarine, I was in the sail on watch, I distinctly remember looking up at the moon, when those guys were walking on the lunar surface, it was so amazing"
And with the moon being so close to the Earth, you would almost expect to be able to see the astronauts walking around up there on its surface, wouldn't you? Of course, the moon isn't quite close enough for that, but it seems like it is.
Alan Boyle said: "But I hope we can turn our focus to the legacy of a great man rather than a grievous error that was quickly corrected."
Alan I understand where you're coming from - and other than using a few dumb sounding "catchy phrases" on occasion, your articles are indeed very well written and aren't completely filled with glaring typos, same sentences being pasted back to back twice, factual errors, etc. Indeed your own articles are very much on point, interesting, and well written - and the only regular error I see is when your articles give a distance in meters and then casually put "(yards)" after it, as if people used yards for a regular measurement, and as if a meter was exactly equal to a yard (it's NOT, so do the correct conversion or just state the distance in Metric!).
However most of the other "journalists" here are producing work of a level not even at high school level - which means that their work needs to be fully proofread and approved by an editor before it goes live - but that just isn't happening, so please don't get all offended when the readers rightly call your site for it's atrocious editorial standards.
It's a great sadness that such a great American hero has passed on, but it's really schlocky to not even get his name right. Any "journalist" who doesn't know his name without a fact checker is not nearly bright enough to be a "journalist".
One of these days your site will actually get a proper editorial staff, and will gain the credibility that you wish it would have - but for now, it's just not the case. Sorry, but that's how it is.
Morriss_Says,
"Neil Armstrong died in the same month of a "Blue Moon."
Is a Blue Moon when you have two full moons in one month? Because if it is, you're right. I just looked at my calendar after I read your post and saw that we had a full moon on the 2nd. of this month and will have another full moon on the 31st.
HeyWaitaMinute... Neil Young is still alive and well and playing concerts. Hey hey, my my... Rock n Roll will never die...
Yes, Ophotfoot... merely coincidence.
Rest In Peace Neil Armstrong, My Hero.
Ah yes. When I walk outside tonight like I always do, I will look up at the moon and smile knowing that he died a contented man, and one of the few who can claim he went to visit another world. I'll miss him, along with the rest of the world...
This sucks. This just REALLY sucks. I was on cloud 9 today and things were going great for me. I go to one website and the first thing I see.......RIP Neil Armstrong.
This just ruined my whole day.
Make no mistake Mr. Armstrong, the U.S. IS and WILL continue to be the leader of space exploration regardless of what ignorant under informed people may think. We will be the leader but most of all we will work with others around the rest of the world in the name of the human race because out there we are not Americans, or Canadians, or Japanese, or European.
We. Are. Earthlings.
Godspeed. :(
Guess they were too busy getting to be first to care about his name being correct. Who ever typed Neil Young, has no clue on one of the monumental achievements of mankind, but they knew who the singer was.
WillardsEtchASketch,
"because out there we are not Americans, or Canadians, or Japanese, or European.
We. Are. Earthlings."
I think that is a very good point, seeing things from an extraterrestrial's point of view, which, I guess, is what we are when we are out there.
Because space exploration is no longer a top priority, I bet if you asked the youngest generation who Neil Armstrong is, they would just shrug. But they know who Lady Gaga is. Maybe our priorities are not as they should be?
I remember being eight years old, sitting on the floor of the living room, glue to the television while Walter Cronkite provided narration of Neil Armstrong coming down the ladder of the Eagle. It was incredibly awe inspiring (and a good excuse to be up after bed time).
Rest in peace
This is with all due seriousness and respect. I don't know what his will says, but I sure would love to see the man be the first buried on the moon.
HEY! I am part of the up-coming generation yet I, and most of the people I know, do know who Neil Armstrong is. While not wanting to be an astronaut I have drawn inspiration from him and have actually designed some space stations/ planet ships while bored. Trust me, if you ask anyone who this great man is, they would be able too tell you!
Bullwinkle, I was a young teenager then,too. I was in Cambridge,WI, with my family at a cottage on Lake Ripley. Everyone that day was so proud to be an American, and everyone on Earth for that matter. God I miss the times when all of us can pull together and be on the same page. Neil Armstrong thank you for your courage and may you rest in peace. You will never be forgotten. SAILCAT, well worded.
We have lost a true hero. One that would not prostitute himself, but he would leave his glory intact, as the good scientist that he was.
A real sad day indeed, considering we do not have many men left like him. The US does not have the same kind of men as Armstrong any more. People with INTEGRITY surely can't be found around.
Some associated things you'll not likely see on the news:
Neil Armstrong built and flew Model Airplanes while growing up. Up until his death, he continued to be supportive of the Academy of Model Aeronautics. (AMA) He knew that Pilots have to come from somewhere.
One has to wonder if he had his operation and follow-up in a country that wasn't 27th in health care, would he still be with us.
RIP, Shipmate.
When I hear his name I just want to go back to that day, what an era I belonged to..
R.I.P. Neil Armstrong
Lucas-2, Try and have respect here and don't go political about our nations Healthcare. The man went to the Moon and back. I surely think he could have gone anywhere on Earth and recieved exactly the treatment he needed. We are honoring a hero and his family that mourns his passing tonight.
To the man that allows the rest of us to say NBD, RIP.
Lusitania
May the Almighty welcome into paradise for ever and ever...
I know there are many doubters and conspiracy theorists out there that thing the moon landings were staged here on Earth. Recently however, one of the Universities had time on Hubble and their project was to see how many flags were still standing at all Apollo landing sites.
All but Apollo 11's flag are still standing. Apollo 11's flag was knocked over from the launch of the LEM as it was closer to the launch/landing site then any of the others and Neil Armstrong reported that he thought it was knocked over. The photos from Hubble show each landing sight and they show the LEM decent platform, a couple of the larger laser receivers for distance information from Earth and where the Lunar Rover was used the tracks of where it traveled. The flags at all the other sites except 11's are still standing. You can see the shadows of the ridged flags cast on the moon.
So doubters and conspiracy theorists, if we didn't land there, how the h3ll did that stuff get up there?
fenderbluesjr
Do you mean that it's not "Politically Correct" to wonder if the sad state of Americas health care may have contributed to this sad day?
I didn't even think that to be political. I wondered if Neil Armstrong would still be alive if WE had the BEST health care in the world.
He reached for the stars, reached for the moon, and on one afternoon in the summer of 1969....he made all of us proud Americans. Space pioneers together. Our American flags on our front porches and our hearts beating a little faster to watch as we gathered around our television sets with family, friends, and neighbors to see Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the Moon. We didn't care who was a Republican or a Democrat, all we knew was that he was our Hero that day and we were all Americans.
A true Hero.....rest in peace.
Not to nitpick, but John Glenn was not the first American in space. Alan Shepard was.
Lucas-2, As I said you are going political here tonight on the quality of healthcare here in America to which Neil Armstrong is a hero. You and I are in total agreance on the healthcare quality of our nation. But what you didn't hear me say was that this was a man that went to the Moon and back. Got it? It doesn't matter the healthcare ststem we have here, Mr. Armstrong could have went anywhere in the world to recieve the treatment he needed and deserved. What you are saying is our heathcare system killed him! It can't get anymore political than that. No offense to you Lucas. Let's mourn the passing of a American hero.
Actually, Ham was. His shot went long, down where we were in a WV-2. I guided us over him with our radio direction finder and we stayed in orbit around him until a ship arrived.
Alan Shepard hit right on target, so we were not involved in his location or recovery.
A good man who did his job well. The Nation will long remember. Mankind will long remember. Peace to you and your loved ones, Great Man of tall humility.
Godspeed and God Bless. You took one great step before, now you have taken another.
RIP Neil, those were the days weren't they every young person wanted to be you or follow in your footsteps you inspired at least 3 generation's, maybe more and not just Americans you had the whole world going, I remember that moment as though it was yesterday the world took a break to witness the biggest event that ever happened to date in human history, it was splendid, its to bad we don't continue on that road, all it took to get going is for JFK to say lets do it and off we went to concur the universe every kid had a dream and a goal and allot of them worked hard for that all over the world dreaming of a time when we can venture into deeper space and discover the universe first hand and America was leading the way till someone pulled the plug. well it was fun while it lasted. you know what kids now days need dreams like that, they have nothing to dream about when the plug was pulled the dreams of many of them died, I guess we will all have to share Obamas dreams.
Bugfart?!?;
Really?, your going to be holier than thou with a screen name like that? Kinda the Pot calling the Kettle Black, isn't it?
Godspeed, sir, and fair skies, wherever you are flying now.
Toasty McGrath: You're definitely right there. First human launched in the US was Alan Sheppard. His flight, although just an up and down flight, was to test human reaction to exposure to space and to test recovery upon return. Before Sheppard though it was Albert the monkey. Albert went up before any human but died of suffocation during the flight. Albert II was the second monkey and survived the V2 flight but died on impact on June 14, 1949.
Goodness,
What an achievement he made. No man on this earth will ever claim such a feat of success and accomplishments. As Raum above said, "Godspeed and fair skyes". You gave us the moon.
I love Niel Young also. I can see the mistake. Love the 1960's. Good things happened (except Vietnam, ya, I am a vet of nam). Long live NASA and guys like Niel Armstrong.
The longest lasting accomplishment, that Neil Armstrong leaves the universe is???....(drum roll).....
"When Neil Armstrong first took that one small step onto the moon, he left behind more than just a footprint. Among the many items still sitting in the Bay of Tranquility are;
Neil Armstrong's boots, a gold replica of an olive branch, tongs, four armrests, urine collection assemblies, a hammer, an insulating blanket, and... four defecation collection devices. Yes, Neil Armstrong's poop is moldering on the moon."
Yes, these things will be there, if humans don't disturb them, for billions of years!
I've seen the 'small step' misquoted so many times - I'm glad it's right here.
Well i guess no confession about it being faked in a studio then. Anyway a legend gone.
As for Lance Armstrong he has never failed a drug test. Not even during the races.They have absolutely nothing on hm. What's wrong RI Mom? Jealous.
Ophotfoot- Guess you are to.
"As for Lance Armstrong he has never failed a drug test. Not even during the races"
He was sneaky and was juicing in the off-season - taking huge doses of banned substances right after the race season ended. It gave him a few months to Hulk out, and he used blood transfusions and harder to detect methods of keeping an edge as he was approaching race season.
It's indeed very likely that this use of huge amounts of banned substances right after the race season is why he got testicular cancer. He's asking for sympathy for having no nads, when there's a good chance that it was directly caused by his cheating.
Indeed, I've known for years that he was doping - due to being friends of friends with somebody who was dating him. Sure, it's a potentially tenuous thread to some, but this was when he was in the midst of his Tour de France winning streak. I expressed my own doubts when I was first told that myself, but then they explained his strategy - and it matches exactly what the USADA has brought up.
Besides, the USADA has a long track record of never making allegations until they have built up a large enough case that if nothing else would completely show that they were being deceptive at the very least. If an athlete is being deceptive about something like this, they have something to hide.
For me the real question is this: will the Tour de France re-award his "wins" to the second place finisher for those years that he "won"?
He should have stuck to maakade washkiki waboo - and not the stuff in the needle. :D
It means you are getting older, and the famous people dying are those you knew something about or had a connection to, they were "in your wheelhouse".
Will wink at the Luna tonight.
chouse, why you would bring this to a Neil Armstrong memorial post, I don't know, but the second and third place finishers all TESTED positive, so why would they give it to them?
TonyInDallas,
"It means you are getting older, and the famous people dying are those you knew something about or had a connection to, they were "in your wheelhouse"."
Of course I'm getting older! Are you trying to tell me you are getting younger? If so, I would like to know your secret.
"chouse, why you would bring this to a Neil Armstrong memorial post, I don't know"
I didn't - other people did, I simply refuted their fan worship of him where they were trying to assert that he was clean for his entire career - when he certainly wasn't. He was a notorious juicer, it's just that he was really sneaky about it.
<Salute> God speed commander. Those of us with the spirit to reach beyond our grasp will continue to bring this dream into reality. A permanant USA moon base is imminient. <Salute>
Neil young went to his own kind of moon in the 1960s, he didn't need a rocket ship though. But the guys of all the space missions are heroes to me. but i still liked Neil's music back in the day.
I'll never forget that summer of 1969. Man walked on the moon, and the Mets won the world series. Life couldn't be more perfect for an 11 year old in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Neil Armstrong left his indelible mark on the world that famous and wonderful Sunday night when he took mankind's greatest "leap" from this earth onto the surface of the moon.
I always wondered what it was like for him to look back at the earth overhead, and realize in that instant, how "insignificant" we really are in the greater scheme of whatever it is that exists beyond our own little corner of the universe. Few have had that experience. He did, and I envy him for it.
Godspeed on your mission of eternal rest, Neil. May your splashdown in heaven result in a quick recovery aboard the almighty's own carrier of souls. You will be remembered throughout eternity here on earth, for uniting us all as one. If only, for those brief few minutes when we looked up into the heavens, and realized that we were actually looking back at ourselves
Neil Young? Really? Holy crap, get the mans name right you idiots.
I know!
There we go. They just fixed it.
I am sure that Neil Young spent some time in the atmosphere when he was younger but really, what stupidity?
When you believed that you've seen all the stupidity, there are always somebody capable to amaze you.
What IDIOTS!!!!
Farewell Neil Armstrong, have a good trip to your next "adventure". RIP
Wasn't he at Woodstock? I know they were in a hurry but geeze, you'd think think this was a tweet from some 20 something celeb.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
Twenty four
and there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.
Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things
that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed
Rolling home to you.
Wait...Neil Armstrong?
you are so right,get the right name, for God's sake this man played a great role in the Space Program.Neil Armstrong, Rest in Peace.
Motherof2+1, my guess it was a 20-something writing this. Either that, or a 50- or 60-something hasbeen that is still high from the stuff s/he had back at Woodstock!
Very sorry about the name in the headline. I can see how that might happen when the adrenaline gets going in the first couple of minutes when a story break. We regret the error.
R. I. P. Neil it was a day to remember when you took that first step. It was always so exciting to follow each space flight with the live coverage on TV. Can't imagine what kind of horrible coverage it would get now days with the news media when have today...
Why are all of you so surprised at the headline error. You do remember this is MSN and I am sure they hire people right out of our new school system that wouldn't have a clue to the history of this country unless it is leaning far to the left. The space program wouldn't fit in the new education system, so yes they would know the Neil Young before they would know Neil Armstrong.
anyone managed to get a screen shot of this howler???????
These young reporters are to young to remember the moon walk and are not tought enough history in school. That's the problem.
RI MOM That comment you made about Lance Armstrong shows the pea you have for a brain.
Lance thru all the tests he took pased all of them. The USADA didn't ever follow the rules and proceedure it set for itself . Travis Tygart even snubbed his nose at the courts and other international authorities to get to Lance. There is no direct proof the Lance took any illicit drug save the so called witnesses who were extorted to testify save one who was caught drugging and has envy against Lance. Lance is just as big of a hero as Neil save for walking on the moon.
If walking on the moon had been a sport I have no doubt that the sleezeball Tygart would have been after Neil as well. He is that big of a hack
Why don't you media police get a life. And the ones who scream the loudest are the ones that make the most mistakes in their empty lives!!
Lance Armstrong is another hero who won these amazing international cycling races. Years after having never failed a drug test during his career, having been given a pass from a two year DOJ criminal investigation with no charges filed, and the USADA sitting at the same table. These guys must really hate Lance. I bet these guys are repubs/tp sh#theads, to tarnish a mans good name for some political leverage. Does the name Valeria Plame come to mind...
You mean... Nile Armstrong... the tuigarist for disco band Chic ?!?
Aw, mann... I'm bummed...
Rest In Peace, Nile Armstrong.... you da man. Everybody Dance ooHooo clapp your hands, clapp your hands... You will be missed, Nile.
BWAAAhahaha what a God-Awful mistake on the original title. Hope the idiot gets fired. REALLY I do.
Doesnt surprise me .. CBS had a special on in 2009 on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and kept referring to us landing/walking on the moon in Aug of 69 instead of July .... honestly the so called news media is full of uneducated young idiots ...
Was at Fenway Park that Sunday p.m. when P.A. announcer Sherm Feller announced that the capsule landed on the moon, betwenn the seventh inning, their arose a tremendous STANDING O, for a long time.
The fact that the Red Sox won the game over the O,s was anti climatic!
What do you expect from a education system that is left leaning if they don't get the Trojan thing right they could get sued, nobody ever gets sued for not getting history right. or arithmetic or reading.......just the sex thing that's all that is important now days. you send your kids to school to learn what rubbers are for.
Barlow its past your bed time. bicycles are for children we are talking adults here.
Your title says Neil Young, not Neil Armstrong.
Sorry about that error, obviously it was done in the heat of the moment.
So if Buzz Aldrin passes are you all going to call him Buzz Lightyear?, Jeeeze.
Very sad to hear about the death of Lance Young....the first man to ride a bicycle to the moon;-)
Neil Armstrong was blessed with a truly inspirational life, may he rest in peace.
One small step for a Buzzard... One giant leap for BuzzardKind...
A YouTube video link for your enjoyment: I appreciate Buzz Aldrin because he punches in the face documentary making fake Journalists who get in his face asking stupid questions
a symbol of bravery, intelligence, and the quest for knowledge.................. RIP
(er.... it's ARMSTRONG you guys)
Neil Young? How the hell do you make a mistake like that? Especially in the headline?
Neil Armstrong, rest in peace.
The writer was most likely a public school victim and he also believed the moon was really made of green cheese.
Funny, the public school system taught me it was Neil Armstrong, not that school has any relevance whatsoever on getting someone's name right. So keep your arrogant, biased, hate-filled vitriol to yourself you sad pathetic POS. (LMAO)
Any reasonable person can see this story was written by a moron and published by other morons just to get it out as fast as possible, people who don't even care what or who they're writing about. Congrats NBC, you were the first people to pronounce Neil Young dead. Hope it was worth the embarrassment.
Being at NBC , the only thing we can say for sure is that the writer was a liberal.
I remember watching Neil take those first steps and being soo proud of what American Science and Ingenuity could accomplish! Neil Armstrong will always be a hero to me and to his country!
The kid that made the mistake was almost certainly a product of RIGHT-WING SOCIAL ENGINEERING - probably "HOAHM SKOOLED" or a private charter school!! If it had been up to the Science-Denying Conservatives - there never would have been a NASA Moon Mission and Neil Armstrong would never have walked on the moon!!!
Steve ------- NBC doesn't hire anyone but the product of liberal educational institutions. Look at their reporting. So the mistake could not have been made by those you suggest.
As to the NASA program, look who's trying to defund it. Your hero , BHO. By the way , the president when the landing occurred was Richard Nixon , a Republican. Without Republican support there would have never been a landing. Try to get your facts straight next time.
Gary-
This is getting old. For the record, yes, the President when Armstong landed on the moon, was a Repubican. The previous two prior were Democrats, and the first one of them, Kennedy, energized the nation to go to the moon. And the one before that, who advocated and started working on a space program in response to Soviet achievements in space, was a Republican. Remember, in those days, the country, not the party, came first.
Rest in peace Neil Armstrong
Typical accuracy of MSNBC.
God Speed, Neil Armstrong - A real American Hero.
Neil who? Nice work there NBC.
Good God, NBC! Get it right! Armstrong walked on the moon! Young is a musician!
Very sorry about the error. One of these things that sometimes happens for a couple of minutes in the chaos of a breaking story, I'm sure.
Alan ------==== Why not worry about getting it right rather than getting it out first?
That is the problem with ALL 24/7 media, right Alan? There is no such thing as copy editors or proof readers in the live media (TV/Cable/Internet). Type your story and hit "send" before you take time to read it over. Print media is no better the past two decades, and THEY have the time to proof before gong to press. Pick up any book and look at all of the typos and grammatical errors in today's prose and poetry that get printed (and books are supposed to be multi-proofread before going to press.) FOX, CNN, ABC, HP, WP, NYT, et al are just as bad as MSNBC/NBC. Remember that many of these stories are newswire service stories and are simply cut and paste postings on the other sites. This one did happen to come from NBC News, and should have been proofed before posting.
BTW, I'm a former Buckeye and we were glued to our TV's for both Glenn and Armstrong's space adventures. I'm 67, so I remember it very well.
Neil Armstrong, a brave astronaut, a great republican senator. Neil called out Obama on gutting NASA, called him a fool. Mr. Armstrong truely was a hero.
Tom-898028
I think you mean ROLE model, not ROLL model
@ Franks-6350556 "Neil Armstrong, a brave astronaut, a great republican senator."
You're thinking of John Glenn the senator, another great American astronaut hero.
R.I.P. Mr Armstrong - another American Hero added to the history books for all time.
Neil Young is the singer. THIS IS NEIL ARMSTRONG, THE ASTRONAUT! NBC has screwed up.
One of the bravest men of all times. He had to land the same device that all most took his life here on earth. he was able to eject form it in less then 2 seconds before it crashed. He did not have that option on the moon. He also ran it to just under 30 seconds of fuel before he landed it. He did all this with a computer that crashed and warring buzzards sounding off on the way down. It took a lot of courage to continue to a safe landing.
he was my hero and I tell this story to a lot of young people
I cannot think of another American who could have handled the fame of being the first man on the moon with the modesty and self control of Neil Armstrong. The temptation to sell out (even for a group of extremely good causes) must have been incredible. Think of the political offers he must have received.
He managed to avoid show biz, politics, and commercialization. It takes powerful integrity to live such a famous life in a way that gives a man and his family the opportunity for privacy. Well done, Mr. Armstrong - rest in peace and privacy, as you would prefer.
Your title says, Neil Young, not Neil Armstrong!
"God Speed"
Check the headline - Neil Armstrong, not Neil Young!!
Fix the headline - Neil Young is still alive.
Yes, it's fixed, very sorry about that error.
More important I think, Neil Young was not an astronaut and did not walk on the moon. I'm just curious though, why Neil Young not Neil Smith for example? Thank for correcting the error.
Neil Young?
They probably got him confused with Lance Armstrong
wtf lance armstrong is dead? was it suicide?
Neil Young walked on the moon?
Neil Young might have gotten to the moon on a 99 cent bottle of cheap wine!!!
Godspeed to you Neil Armstrong. I have admired your achievements since I was 10 years old and still do.
Holy @!$%#......the first man on the moon can't even get the @!$%#ing respect he deserves.
Where the heck is the proof reader?! Please fix this! We are talking about an astronaut, not singer!
I think the proofreader caught up with the error in the breaking story after a couple of minutes. Very sorry about the error.
If Fox News made the same mistake the liberal progressive media would not let them off the hook. So nice liberal progressives forgive themselves....a mistake that certainly would not ever had been extend to Fox News had they made same typo and their proof reader caught with an apology.
There are no proofreaders there. Facts don't matter.
Alan, I was half expecting to see 24 hours media (news) coverage on this, a panel discussing the life and accomplishments of Neil Armstrong, comments from those who knew and worked with him, oh and the occassional glimpse of his house taken from the helicopter above, followed by a doctor/lawyer/ commenting on the cause of death/legal issues involved. Wait, that's right, he wasn't in the entertainment industry. Yes, news reporting is not what it used to be.
Yesterday, my daughter asked who Neil Armstrong was (she read it on twitter), I told her and when she gave me the news, it brought back lots. I was 9 years old and remember watching it on glorious tv, black and white, when he and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. The challenges, accomplishments and costs (Grissom, White, Chaffee) this country faced and overcame to put a man on moon and safely return him to the earth before the end of the decade, simply amazing.
RIP Mr. Armstrong, what a hero.
Rest in peace.
R.I.P Neil Armstrong
When are you idiots going to proof read, or is that a lost and dying art?
Neil Young? ROFL.
R.I.P. to the man on the moon. Raise a glass to the man!
Astronaut Neil Young, first man to walk on moon, dies at age 82 - Neil Young?????
I didn't realize that Neil Young was also an astronaut. Come on, guys.
Katrina,
"I didn't realize that Neil Young was also an astronaut."
He wasn't, but Alice, Jackey Gleason's wife in The Honeymooners, could have become an astronaut. Do you remember how, whenever he would get mad at her, he would clench his fist and say, "Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!"?
The name in the headline is incorrect.
REALLY??? The rich are cashing in while we break our backs doing the 9-5 routine. ENOUGH!!! Want to see what the rich are hiding from us? Go ahead and GOOGLE the following term " FAST SLICK RICH " and go to the first site. Then click on one of the " LIFE INSURANCE " pages to see how we can score huge money...WHILE WE ARE ALIVE TOO! It is unbelievable how must cash you can get from this.
NEIL YOUNG???