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Subscribe to RSSThe astronaut who became the first man to walk on the moon has died at the age of 82. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports on tributes for him and the legacy he left behind.
U.S. flags will be flying at half-staff around the world "as a mark of respect for the memory of Neil Armstrong," the first man to walk on the moon, President Barack Obama proclaimed today.
The half-staff tribute will take place on the day of Armstrong's burial and last until sunset. Exactly when will that be? Friday is the likeliest day — but the plans for memorials are still taking shape, two days after Armstrong died of complications from heart surgery at the age of 82.
Today, NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs tweeted that a private, family memorial service would take place on Friday in Cincinnati, near the Armstrong family home in Indian Hill, Ohio. The Associated Press also said services would be held Friday. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who's a friend of the family, is due to give the eulogy, AP reported.
NASA Headquarters in Washington said that the details for the private as well as public memorial services were still in flux. "No details yet for a public memorial," Jacobs wrote.
Meanwhile, formal and informal memorials to the first moonwalker are proliferating. The Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, where Armstrong was born, is planning a memorial tribute on Wednesday night.
NASA has set up a "Share Your Thoughts" website where condolences can be left. There's also a "Wink at the Moon Night" website, sparked by the Armstrong family's request to look at the moon, "think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink." The website is part of a campaign to make Aug. 25, the date of Armstrong's death, an annual Wink at the Moon Night.
Photoillustration by Jason Major via Twitter
Jason Major made alterations in a classic picture of the U.S. flag on the moon to pay a half-staff tribute to Neil Armstrong. See the picture on Twitter and visit Major's Lights in the Dark blog.
NBC News' Cape Canaveral correspondent, Jay Barbree, told me in an email that the thought behind the request for winks was clear: "The family means that's where he'll be — on the moon."
As I gave a wink last Saturday night, it struck me that the moon was already flying at half-staff, just one day after its first-quarter phase. Friday's full moon will be the second full moon of the month, and thus will mark a rare "blue moon." Armstrong's passing will surely make this moon as blue as it can be.
Tributes are continuing to stream in from VIPs. Here are a few that have crossed our desk since Saturday:
Robert Zubrin, president, Mars Society: "Neil Armstrong was a patriot and a pioneer. In every way he was an exemplar of the great human spirit which seeks to go where no one has gone, to know what has never been known, to do what has never been done. His life's story calls to all of us to rise to our own higher natures, just as his immortal words when first setting foot on our neighbor world challenge us. Will the Apollo 11 mission ultimately be remembered as a 'giant leap for mankind,' the first step in opening an infinite frontier? Or will it recede into history as merely a grand stunt that led nowhere? The answer to that question is up to us. Let us therefore reflect on this great and good man's life, and resolve to find and summon to action the Neil Armstrong within ourselves, so that he, and the nation that dared with him, did not dare in vain."
Frank DiBello, president, Space Florida: "Although Neil Armstrong had grown disillusioned with the debate, uncertainty and acrimony in Washington surrounding the post-shuttle direction of NASA, he remained a passionate and compelling advocate of the human exploration of space. We owe it to his memory to continue that quest. Indeed, our memory of this grand achievement is our collective heritage, and is our single most enduring symbol of American exceptionalism."
Bill Nye (the Science Guy), CEO, Planetary Society: "For people everywhere, Neil Armstrong was a hero, I think, not just because he did his dangerous job successfully, but because he was so matter-of-fact about his profession. It was a day at his office. We all owe him a debt. Just think how the word would be different, if he had crashed on the moon, or not managed to return from the moon, or missed the Earth on his way back. None of us would think of our place in the cosmos, our place in space differently. Neil Armstrong raised the expectations, the hopes and dreams, of every human on Earth. Thanks to him, we all believe that humans can achieve great things -- that we can learn about our place among the stars -- that we can all reach up and out -- that we can fly, and change the world. It turns out, yours was a pretty big step after all. Thank you, sir." [Full statement]
Hugh Downs, former host of ABC's "20/20" and chairman of the National Space Society's Board of Governors: "News of Neil Armstrong's passing is so shocking that there is no way it can be absorbed right away as reality. His position in history is deeper than that of any known discoverer or explorer in the history of this planet. As the first human to land on any world outside the Earth, and probably the first living creature of any sort to come from the Earth and reach the Moon, his legacy will be safe as long as intelligent life survives in this corner of the cosmos." [Full statement]
Neil deGrasse Tyson, director, Hayden Planetarium, via Twitter: "'Men Walk On Moon' — The only positive event in the last 50 years for which everyone remembers where they were when it happened. ... Farewell, my friend. And now, perhaps more than ever, I bid you godspeed. ... The first crewed spacecraft to Mars should be named the 'Armstrong.' That works on so many levels."
Win McNamee / Getty Images
A tribute to Ohio-born astronaut Neil Armstrong is displayed on stage at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Sunday. The tribute was created during the run-up to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.
More about Neil Armstrong's life and legacy:
- Neil Armstrong, first to walk on moon, dies at age 82
- 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
When Neil Armstrong had his heart surgery earlier this month, we collected get-well wishes and passed them along to the family via NBC's Jay Barbree. I can't promise that we'll be able to do likewise this time around, but please feel free to leave your condolences as comments below.
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.
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God Speed kind Sir! I will always remember where I was when I heard that infamous "one small step for mankind".
Larry, please get it right. He stated "...One small step for man... one giant leap for mankind..." Thank you for at least trying.
Mark, if I may, the exact quote was " One small step for A man, one giant leap for mankind." Not trying to be pissy so please don't think I'm attacking you personally. have a great day.
There is no "a" in his speach. It was supposed to be, but if you listen closely it is not there. Let's not knitpick, the man did a great job.
Second comment. Why were flags not lowered to half-mast on news of his death.
Third comment. Flags are not flown at half-staff. They are brought to the top of the flagpole and lowered to half-staff.
Myth: Armstrong muffed his famous line about "one small step for A man" by forgetting to pronounce the "a.:
Fact: Armstrong himself recalls saying it, but the intermittent radio link may have suppressed the syllable. I personally heard the broadcast live while I was a "NASA trainee" at Northwestern University’s Technological Institute in Evanston, Ill., and when I immediately repeated the line for a colleague, I distinctly recall saying it as I had interpreted it: "That’s one small step for a man…"
That's because your brain played a trick on you and added the correct grammar. He could have said "This man" also. The "a" is not there and it was very clear. The second "leap for mankind" sentence was a bit garbled. It's rigfht there for all to hear. Armstrong admitted he may have left it out, but his mind played a trick on him too when he said it.
Fact: Armstrong himself recalls saying it,
Debunking nine myths about Neil Armstrong
I believe I owe Mark an apology. After reading all the comments I went to a dozen different sites and listened to the audio. I couldn't hear the word " a" in any of them. I couldn't even hear a pause where it might have been. So Mark. I'm sorry for contradicting you. I was wrong.
We generally run the quote with the "a" ... First of all, because Neil said he said it; second of all, because as a former Midwesterner myself, I catch myself slurring "for a man" just as it sounds on the tape; third of all, because an analysis of the tape in 2006 suggested that the sound was there but suppressed during transmission. Here are a couple of links on the subject:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48791008/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/famous-lost-word-armstrongs-mankind-quote/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15080108/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/software-helps-solve-one-small-step-mystery/
Also, when you think about it, the saying makes sense with the 'a' in there. This individual human being took a small physical step off of the LEM onto the surface but for mankind it represented a tremendous HUGE step. Without the 'a' it doesn't really make any sense. I'll take Neil's word for it on the word! :-)
If Neil says he said "a man", then I believe that. The recording actually sounds like there is a small radio noiise spike at the exact moment he would have uttered the single letter word "a".
It also makes sense for the theme of the speach. It was a "small step for a man" not a "small step for man".
Re comment by Mr Neil deGrasse Tyson (another Neil whose work I admire), "...the first crewed spacecraft to Mars should be named the 'Armstrong.' That works on so many levels...":
Let the orbiter of that Mars mission be named Armstrong, and the lander be named Neil. That works on ALL levels...
He went to the moon.He was paid to go to the moon.I have to admit that it took guts to do what he did but I don't see that earning flags to be flown at half staff.All the money spent on the space program could have been better spent .
Well it doesn't cost a whole lot to fly them at half-staff
Godspeed Neil!
And cleaning lady, you might want to do some research on how many things came out of the space program.
@Justacleaninglady....Neil Armstrong was a true American Patriot. Not only was he an explorer of space and the first human to step on the moon but he also served our country as a U.S. Navy Pilot and served in the Korean War. For his service to this country he deserves this Nations highest honor. His sacrifice and service to this country is what gives you your freedom of expression.(Even if you don't make sense!)
".All the money spent on the space program could have been better spent ."
Better spent on what, exactly? And before you answer, find out how much is being spent on them already (you may find that it's much more, and adding NASA;s budget would make little difference), and what progress 'they' have made.
Your comments are clear indication that you will be nothing more than just a cleaning lady...ever.
Exactly!
I am very pleased that Pres. Obama has declared a day for Neil......My flag is already flying at half staff
Yes, priorities.
For the movie theater massacre in Aurora, the President proclaimed a 6- day period of half mast display of the US flag. This was a sad crime, certainly - ordinary citizens who were victims of a vicious crime. (The 12 murders were less than Chicago or Detroit record in most weeks, no flag proclamations for those.)
The loss of an American hero like Neil Armstrong should rate at least an immediate half-mast, to last through the funeral.
mailman8, a one-time massacre is a little different than a disparate list of murders over a period of time, wouldn't you think? Troll much?
We are all lucky to have that man, in that place, at that time. It really could not be improved upon.
Godspeed Mr. Armstrong.
So glad half staff was declared! He deserved it. Lima, Ohio-Wapakoneta (15 miles away have lost two great people in one week. I can just hear Phyllis Diller say" God must have thought I needed a man from out of this world for an escort to heaven." On Saturday when Neil passed, a car club was having a car show to benefit the needy children at his air and space facility in Wapak. I'm sure Neil was looking down with a smile on his face. We have truly lost a hero.
If Whitney Houston had flags lowered for her, Neil Armstrong should have a day of mourning
If Whitney Houston had flags lowered for her, Lance Armstrong should have them flown for him losing his titles.
LOL yeah she was a disgrace!
Don't be so hard on her. She's six months drug-free!
Please for everyone's sake, continue to be perfect.
"If Whitney Houston had flags lowered for her..."
Except, of course, they didn't. (Or Michael Jackson, or Amy Whitehouse) Therefore, it's completely irrelevant.
i suggest we do a 2 for 1 " hero" armstrong, half staff salute. one for neil, (real american hero and 1st MAN on moon) who physically passed. the 2nd for the "man" lance (the cheater) armstrong who only has died in the metaphorical sense.
DEFUND NASA NOW!!
Diminishing returns, HUGE cost.
Defund WAR and the military industrial complex, HUGE SAVINGS and increase NASA.
See post 3.2 above. Julie was right.
Of course pull out of all the wars Mr. Nobel Peace Prize has us in as well.
Yes she WAS right without a doubt, but now she is wrong, the space program does not pan out in any way cost to production, sorry dreamers!
Defund NASA, get 0.53 cents on the dollar.
Defund the Department of Education, get 1.32 cents on the dollar. So: more than double the bang for the buck for killing a government agency, and OUR KIDS WILL GET SMARTER since they've been being dumbed down since Carter started the BoE!
http://raymondpronk.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/800px-fy2010_spending_by_category.jpg&sa=X&ei=SPiFToH1CcXL0QHdxZX-Dw&ved=0CAoQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNFZxvtkjXP1sPGOUE0N-oH31-UnZw
Yes, this is all sacrastic. If you think killing NASA would actually save money, you have no idea what the Federal Budget looks like.
Of course The Dev. Now, WHO started those wars? HUH? HUH???
Crickets. Just what I thought.
I didn't realize crickets were so violent
Why do you think Jiminy carried that umbrella?...:-))
yes Doug and CR ...... Jiminy was the original OG (Old Gangsta). The umbrella was the beast.
I remember so much when he walked on the moon. I was a young child and did the happy dance when he did this. It was my 10th BD. So, we I have a BD, I think of him and what he did that very special day. RIP Neil. You were an amazing man. God Bless.
I do not agree with Mr. Obama on much but on this he did absolutely the right thing. Neil Armstrong is a true American hero. He would be the first to deny that but the man was the perfect one for the job. I salute you Commander.
I will fly our flag at full staff as NO ONE has ever been to the moon. My god, such nonsense.
(sigh) Even at times like this, the willfully ignorant come out of the woodwork...
Dennis
Do you also subscribe to the Flat Earthers Society and believe the Sun revolves around the Earth?
God Dennis you`re such a putz...
Dennis is a troll, and a pretty wretchedly bad one. I'm sure that when he finished posting his troll attempt that he promptly resumed masturbating furiously.
I am surprised how long it took the White House to call for flags to be flown at half staff - TWO DAYS. It should have been done starting on the day Neil Armstrong died. As of this morning, the White House had still not done so. Out of respect for Armstrong, I called the White House phone line and requested that the president issue the order to fly the flags at half staff. I cannot believe I was the only outraged American who called for that purpose. The White House must have figured out what the general public wanted and expected and finally did the right thing. But what took so long? Why the delay?
1. It was the weekend, cut them some slack.
2. Do you think you're the only person that calls (or writes, or e-mails) the White House on any issue...?
Mr. Glover, I did not say that I was the only person: "I cannot believe that I was the only outraged American who called." That means that I thought that other people did call!
Re "weekend, cut them some slack," do we only have a government on weekdays? Sorry, not buying it. It should not have taken TWO WHOLE DAYS! Period.
But "slack" is a telling word. The government is "slacking" off in more ways than one these days.
In fact, considering Neil Armstrong's importance his passing also calls for a period of national mourning. But I won't hold my breath expecting that to be declared.
By comparison, when Yuri Gagarin died tragically the Soviet Union declared a period of national mourning AND his birthday was also celebrated every year as a national holiday. The comparison says a lot about what America has come to.
JosefSerf, I agree with you 100%!!! I think what happened is Obama was so busy campaigning he didn't even think about lowering the flags! After numerous people such as yourself called, his staffers probably said something to him. It is an outrage! Armstrong, who participated in one of the defining moments in U.S history forgotten! It says volumes for this administration.
Since they can't figure out which day, I'll put mine at 1/2 staff on Thursday AND on Friday! This man deserves more than just ONE day to be honored anyway!
I'll put mine at half mast now, and leave it until sunset on the funeral day. I am ashamed that I did not do it Sunday.
If you want to , watch this whole video or at least go to the 58 minute mark and watch. I remember wondering why there was no crater or exhaust gasses produced from the LEM. The fuel was hypergolic (instant combustion when fuels where mixed) and on earth produced a very large reddish exhaust. Why none on the moon? Just a question that needs an answer.
www(dot)youtube.com/watch?v=MalYSn_qIU4&feature=youtu.be
Prolly because there's no air and not that much gravity
That's not an answer. Watch from minute 58 onward. Then comment.
Best answer I can give, because I don't know anything about any of this. I figure low gravity would mean less force to move the craft, enough less force that the crater you want would be smaller. Lack of air might affect the color of the burning - another guess on my part.
Now I have a question for you.. do you believe the landing was a hoax?
Even the curiosity lander rockets made holes .
I'm pretty sure Mars has more gravity than the Moon. One more time, are you a Moon landing denier?
I doubt he'll admit it. After all, Buzz Aldrin is still around and still punching kooks. Like any coward, he'll wait until he's sure Buzz isn't watching and waiting.
Mikey is just another troll, and his poor attempts at it will always be just that - poor attempts. He's probably Dennis the Wanker's room mate.
@Mike: Care to explain this, then?
The agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) zeroed in on Mare Tranquillitatis, or the Sea of Tranquility — the place where humans first touched down on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. LRO's camera snapped the picture as the probe flew only 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the moon's surface. The image, which was released on March 7, provides the best look yet at humanity's first venture to another world, NASA officials said in a statement.
http://www.space.com/14874-apollo-11-landing-site-moon-photo.html
...feel free to zoom in on the picture, BTW. At 50 meters the detail is quite nice.
Here's another view from 2009: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_200911109_apollo11.html
Then there's (my personal favorite) the Apollo 17 site: http://www.universetoday.com/43538/lro-takes-closer-look-at-apollo-17-landing-site/
To say nothing of the usual problems deniers have: how to explain the laser experiment mirror, how to explain the sheer volume of moon rocks, how to explain "a conspiracy" that would have had to involve 30,000 people (and dozens of famous ones, including no less than 3 Presidents and the entire Astronaut Corps) in a world where the Mai Lai Massacre and Watergate couldn't have been keep quiet...
Look as'holes, it doesn't matter what I think or what you think, it's a matter of getting answers. So, anyone with an engineering or physics degree should be able to answer what a rocket engine like that on LEM will do in 1/6 g and a vacuum and so far I haven't seen anyone do that. What was the temperature, velocity , Delta V of the expelled gases that came out of the LEM?
@Mike: Look troll, posting garbage here because you can't figure out how to use Google won't get you far. But just to shut you up, here you go.
Why was there no blast crater? There wasn't enough pressure!
http://pseudoastro.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/the-apollo-moon-hoax-why-is-there-no-blast-crater-under-the-lunar-module/
Also you can go here http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/ to see pictures. Just scroll down to the section called "When the LEM set down on the Lunar surface, it gave out 3000 lb. worth of thrust".
Mark, again..that's not an answer. You're an idiot. What about the temperature of the expelled gasses? It sounds to me like you would gladly have put your head under it if you could "handle the pressure".
@Mike the troll: That's not an answer... why?
I may be an idiot. But that certainly speaks less well of you, then as your lack of a response to any of my points clearly shows you grasp the subject matter less well than even an idiot.
What about the temperature of the expelled gasses? I've already shown why there was no crater and that there was discoloration on the moon... so what is your point about temperature (in a vacuum)?
See the second and third lines above. And AGAIN:
1) Can you explain away why the Soviets have 0.7 pounds of moon rocks from 3 missions while the US has 842 pounds from 6 missions?
2) Can you explain away the pictures of the 3 lunar rovers, the landing sites... the flags?
3) How about Apollo 13... care to explain why NASA would choose to hoax a failed landing on the third mission?
4) Why the Soviets (or any other government, for that matter) never protested that the US did not land on the moon?
5) Why, of the FIVE Lunar Laser Ranging experiments, where we still bounce lasers off of get on the moon... do the two Soviet ones have a 14cm a side mirror array while the US versions are over 35 cm a side while the Apollo 15 one is 104 x 61 cm? Could it be beacuse... you need PEOPLE to position such devices?
6) The independent confirmation of telemetry by radar by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and Australia?
7) The Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK tracking the various Apollo missions with it's telescope?
8) The Japanese SELENE program's photos of the Apollo 15 site?
9) The TD-1A photographs of Earth (TD-1A was an ESA satellite) that match those taken by Apollo 16?
10) The Chinese Chang'e 2's photos of the moon, clearly showing Apollo artefacts?
11) ...and how did parts from Surveyor 3, which landed on the moon in 1967 COME BACK TO EARTH if Apollo 12 was faked?
12) Why would NIXON of all people, call to congratulate the astronauts and play a fake which only helped to cement the memory of KENNEDY, his bitter rival?
13) How do you fool billions of people with TV footage?
14) How do you keep tens of thousands of people to keep a secret conspiracy?
15) Heck, how do you keep even one of the 30 astronauts that went to the moon to keep a secret?
...I'm sure there's more evidence out there. I'm just going to stop now because there's no point in going on since you're not going to refute any of this with anything other than an insult anyway.
You are way off topic. You make a crazy assumption I think it was all a hoax. So , how does rocket exhaust behave in space? Any rocket.
You've never said anything to the contrary, nor have you had anything to say as to my answers regarding discoloration of the lunar surface nor the pressure/crater issue.
Here you go. If you want anything more, you can use Google yourself or word a more precise question.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1846/how-do-rockets-work-in-the-vacuum-of-space
http://www.braeunig.us/space/propuls.htm
You a scatter brain.
LOL. I've (probably over) exposed you for the troll you are, so... adieu!
(...giants steps are what you take... walking on the moon!) Godspeed, Neil Armstrong!
Really great person and will be remembered forever.
Bless the poor devils that just can't wrap their brains around the significance of the event
Suspicion based on ignorance.
Lost in rocket marks and make believe.
It's a shame we don't have anyone on the moon to half-staff that flag, too.
True. But that will upset the conspiracy theory community and spark an unneeded debate about whether -that flag- was real.
Columbus... Gallelio... Armstrong. The man's name will be around long after the rest of us are a distant memory. And to think... the politicians of the day, slap him and his memory in the face by slowly dismantling the Space Program. They claim we can better spend the money. Really? All the technologies created and all the jobs that were made because of NASA and the Space Program and the politicians think we can do better? Problem is that the politicians are attempting to 'think'. They're no good at it, and anyone who passed 3rd grade knows that too. They're in the jobs they have now because no one else would have them. Now... with the passing of one of the greatest pioneers in the past 500 years, there's hardly a note beyond a few half-mast flags. Are you kidding? There should be a FULL blown spare-no-expense funeral to Arlington National Cemetary, complete with missing man formation, 21 cannon salute, and a riderless horse...and that's the LEAST this country and world should do for him. The least!
He was a humble man, he was a serious man, and he was a patriotic man. He went to the moon and did what he did because it was part of his job, and I applaud his humility. That said, this country owes him a debt of gratitude that should be expressed with as great a pomp and ceremony as it can muster. He is more worthy of it than any living President, more honorary for it than any General that holds his rank, and certainly more appropriate than some lowly politician. This was a man, a real red-blooded American man and a hero. While his funeral may with his wishes and our blessings, be a quiet and private affair for the family; the United States should hold a ceremony worthy of only the greatest of us, something that can awe and humble the people of a country whom he served with pride and distinction. The US should not appear ungrateful to its sons or daughters, and Neil Armstrong stands out amongst us for what he did back on a Summer Day in 1969. It should be celebrated, honored, and cherished.
God Speed, Mr. Armstrong. Words fail my respect, gratitude, and wishes to you and your family.
I think that flags should be at half-staff for more than one day. How about for as long as it took for Apollo 11 to fly from the earth to the moon and back, that would be a fitting length of time. God bless you Neil, the moon and stars have seemed farther away since your death on Saturday, I'll always see you when I look at the moon.
Interesting. Visit GrammarU.com for more articles with grammatical errors.
Glad to hear that half staff flags are planned. If anyone deserves it, Neil Armstrong does.