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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:
I was sixteen years old when the moon walk happened. We were living with my maternal grandparents at the time and I remember sitting in front of the tv in their living room with them, my parents and younger brother and sister watching that special moment. I was awestruck and have never forgotten seeing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon or hearing the famous line Neil Armstrong uttered about one small step for man,one giant leap for mankind. My condolences to the Armstrong family. RIP Mr. Armstrong,you truly were a hero.
Must be nice that the guy who never set foot on the moon can die with everyone believing he did. Honor this jerk? You've got to be joking. He didn't even bring back or let alone keep a moon rock with his 1950's technologically improbable-built spacecraft. Sorry, I don't honor dead liars.
Great Man! He didn't die, and his spirit is always in the universe with us.
Never forget that day. We need to explore space. If for no other reason than to honor the legacy of these brave men. And women.
The President is a disgrace for not ordering the nation's flags to be flown at half-staff. This man was a national hero. And not the BS "hero" people and the media love to throw around these days. there were no guarantees that any part of his mission wouldn't go wrong or his equipment wouldn't fail. He epitomized American courage and fortitude. This country is turning to s*** right in front of our eyes. I weep for our future. Rest in peace, Commander Armstrong.
All the web news articles about the passing of Armstrong usually have commenters attacking the man as a hoax and the moon landings as fake.
I've read some articles and seen some videos putting forth this idea and I'm having a hard time figuring out why they come to this conclusion. I'm not trying to bash you guys. I'm trying to understand where you are coming from is all.
If it was faked, why is there only the barest circumstantial evidence? Knowing the utter clumsiness and stupidity of the U.S. government workings, how have they managed to keep any and all solid evidence hidden?
Multiple technicians, scientists, politicians, and government officials had to be in on it. And generally speaking if more than 5 or 6 people know a secret they eventually talk about it to somebody-spouses, people in similar fields, reporters out of a sense of guilt. A few people this might not happen to, but hundreds were needed to fake this. After nearly 50 years not one single person has slipped up or guilt-riddednly spilled the beans?
And this would not just be the people at the time. This secret has to be multi-generational. At least a couple more generations of scientist and engineers have worked for NASA and it'd company affiliates. And if you know scientist they go over every calculations and piece of data endlessly. Also, scientists are geeks for this stuff they love it like a hobby. They go over every detail just for pure fun. In planning other missions with probes they would need access to all the faked moon data and would have poured over it with their love of the info and to find the stuff they needed for other work. In all these other scientists, not a single one of them have found the obvious (to these guys) anomalies in the data that would show its fake? Are they found out and then ordered to keep silent? This would add another two generations of hundreds of tech geeks that must ALL be told to keep silent. Also, the government officials that guard this "public" secret must be into their second generation of of operatives who have to monitor and make sure this secret is kept. That's more people who know.
Also why would the Soviet Union who monitored everything we did in the race to the moon not know we were faking it and exposed the U.S. as frauds?
All the evidence I've ever heard about are things like "These photos look fake." "Radiation would kill the astronauts." etc. All of which can be answered. But nothing I've ever heard of could even be brought into a court of law to prove a case of fraud. There is nothing even vaguely concrete, just speculation of what could have been done to fake it. After 50 years there isn't any solid evidence found of any kind?
I mean even when the government is trying to keep something secret like the Stealth bomber or Watergate or Irangate it all falls apart and is exposed in a few years. And these are things they want to keep completely secret. But faking moon landings is a public secret. They had to have worldwide press coverage, and public people walking in and out of facilities and still keep this secret, not just for a few years but FOREVER. In what area has the government ever been that perfect and efficient? This seems to attribute almost magical powers to the government in this one area that they can't seem to do in any other area of their operations.
Listen, I'm just trying to understand where this is coming from and why. If any good moon landing conpsiracists are out there I'd really appreciate some info on your side. Sorry this is so long. I'm just trying to learn something.
Thanks!
Conspiracy nuts never pay attention to reason or facts. Just look at all the stupidity they put forth about 9/11.
Rest in Peace Neil ! My condolesences to the family. I will always remember that day when he took the 1st step and said those famous words.
Did he really walk on the moon? Hmmmm, that is the question.
The first man in the fake moon landing.
Prove it was fake.
I'm not attacking you but so many people say this but they don't even have the evidence you could bring into court. They just say "This is how it could have been faked. I think the government is evil so they faked it".
After nearly 50 years, would somebody please show me scientifically studied and experimented on solid evidence. Something you can take to a court of law. Something other than "The shadows don't look right in photos." You can't convict anybody with that.
We lose an American Hero, and MSN puts the New Jersey Zero on the same headline. Great journalism MSN!
Neil Armstrong didn't land on the moon. It was all staged. It was a hoax to make it look like we were bettter than the Russians. There is no way that humans can pass through the Van Allen Radiation belts without being killed by SPE's. The video I am about to link fullly explains this. It even discusses the new non natural radiation belt that was created by the U.S. government when they decided to detonate a nuke in space under Operation Starfish Prime. The new radiation belt is 100 times more intense than the natural belts. Explorer 1 discovered the radiation belts and it proved that the the 11 year cycle Sun Spots occured on the very year that the Apollo moon landing was supposedly attempted. Oh and don't be douchebags and start hating on me until you watch the video. Watch and then comment. http://youtu.be/MalYSn_qIU4
That video is compelling. The stark contrast beween the design of the Sat 5 and the 1920's movie of going to the moon is stunning. I never knew any of that. Keep an open mind.
I was 15 when that happened and I'm pretty sure I saw Neil Young too. But then it was late and I wa the only one watching. I was surrounded by dead heads that thought sleep was better than watching history unfold.
ddick - He was not a hero, he was just an employee at NASA. A hero is someone who either saves someone's life or gives his/her life for the sake of another's life.
cc, you might want to inform Merriam-Webster that they've got the definition wrong:
he·ro
Definition of HERO
1
a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
b: an illustrious warrior
c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
d: one who shows great courage
Hmmm, Armstrong seems to fit definitions b, c and d.
And given the number of lunatics (pun intentional) claiming that the landings were faked, he seems to have passed into legend as well...
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: President Barack Obama orders that U.S. flags
be flown at half-staff in honor of first moonwalker Neil Armstrong, who passed
away over the weekend.
Neil Armstrong was a real American hero. He comes from a different time when hero really meant something. It's tossed around now over nothing and really means nothing in most cases these days. It was a different America then, much, much different. We could dream big, and make it happen, we were absolutely sure America's best days were ahead. We didn't make excuses, understood hard work, accepted a hand up, not a hand out. My how times have changed.
RIP is an oxymoron. When you are dead , you are dead. Athropomorphizising a dead person is just stupid. There is no concept of rest or being at peace while you ar dead..you are JUST DEAD. Get it?
R.I.P Neil Armstrong.
I can't really say you're a hero to us all. But I can say that was a great video that us made back in 1969 that made the Soviet Union and the rest of the world believe that America was the first to make it to the moon. And for you people that really believe that it was real than ask yourself why America, or no one else, has been back to the moon. And they're trying for other places now is not a good reason.
We haven't gone back because most Americans are ADD, and politicians work more for the far right or far left and for the here and now rather than working for what's best for America ten, twenty or thirty years from now.
There's no planning anymore. There is no looking to the future.
And of course, the Soviet Union was so technologically backward in 1969 that they could be taken in by a great video..
Neil Armstrong. Didn't he play with Crosbym Stills, Nash and Armstrong.
Twice I saw my Dad's eyes leak; when his dad died and when Mr. Armstrong stepped on the moon.
I grew up just a short ride from the space center in florida .I was a witness to the space program from the early 1960s to the present.Including all the moon shots. I hope for the day when common folks like me will one day travel to the place where Neil Armstrong once stood. As a child I was always in awe of the astronauts. You can idolise pop stars and sports stars all you want ,Ill take space travelers any day.
I'm just afraid all the original moonwalkers will be dead before we get up there again.
THAT will be a sad day.
Neil's death is a huge loss to our society and our country. When I look at the moon I'll think of you.
Darn! First msnbc.com erroneously says that Neil Young had just passed away, whereas it was actually Neil Armstrong who passed away, then some clown commenting on here says that it was LANCE Armstrong, and by now a lot of people between one certain age and another-if whoever typed in that headline is in that category-had to have learned about Neil Armstrong in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL????? Had Lance Armstrong not just given up his fight against the anti-doping association (and its allegations against him) a day or two prior to Neil Armstrong's passing, that aforementioned clown of a commenter on this page not typed herein that *Lance* had died.
Maybe Lance Young died on the same day as Neil Armstrong?
But I do think News Agencies have lost a lot of credibility and do not check facts, proof read or provide much, if any, quality control anymore.