RIP: Neal Armstrong

The commander and the first human to ever set foot on another world died 8/25/12 from complications from heart surgery. He was 82 years old.

Armstrong made his history making foot print July 21, 1969, this however was not his first space record. During his first mission in space, he performed the first manned docking of two spacecraft, during the Gemini 8 mission in 1966, with pilot David Scott.

Apollo 11 was his second and last space flight.

Armstrong's surgery took place on August 7, 2012, to relieve blocked coronary arteries. He died on August 25, following complications from the surgery. President Barack Obama released a statement calling Armstrong "among the greatest of American heroes – not just of his time, but of all time

Armstrong Reported in Good Shape After Heart Surgery

nbcnew.com reports that Neil Armstrong is "doing great" after cardiac bypass surgery. This, according to his wife Carol Armstrong.

The 82 year old Armstrong entered the hospital earlier this week after a routine stress test revealed
four blockages in his coronary arteries.

Armstrong is said to be in great spirits and doctors expect him to recover from the

43 Years Ago Today (July 20th) A History Making Day

At 10:56 p.m. ET, on July 20, 1969 these history making words were spoken. "That’s one small step for a man — one giant leap for mankind." This put astronaut Neal Armstrong in the fore front of one of the most historic achievements of the 20th century and there would be little argument towards saying one of the most historic ever!

Xnewsman of course has to keep me on track, so he sent in this article from msn.com  that really brings back the excitement and awe of the moment. For my part this I was reading this Dvice article here which showed the stunning photograph which was the first that Neal took after jumping 3 feet to the surface. And this next one I had never seen before! I love Apollo 8's shot of the Earth from lunar orbit, but from the surface looking straight up the side of the LEM towards Earth! What a stunning photo! You have to check out the Dvice gallery I was looking at because they take a shot of the Luna accent module Eagle preparing to dock with the command module with the Earth in the background! Heart stopping it is so beautiful! Thanks for the update Xnewsman!

Lost Apollo 11 footage found!!!

Everyone is familiar with the images of Neal Armstrong exiting the Eagle LEM. Mostly dark and blurry almost unrecognizable except for the bulky humanoid on the screen. The really disappointing fact about the first few moments of Armstrong's excursion was that it didn't HAVE to be that bad. During that short segment, NASA was panicking. The picture should have been much clearer. NASA was receiving the Luna images through the Goldstone tracking facility. Unfortunately Goldstone's settings were wrong leading to a badly degraded signal. To make matters worse, by the time the error was discovered, Armstrong had decided to start the historic walk early, leaving the United States receivers below the horizon.

These blurry images were thought to be the only images surviving of the historic walk. In Australia however, radio telescopes were being used to pickup and forward the signals to the States. Recordings were made but the film was lost in archives for many years and was badly damaged when found. What the rediscovered footage uncovers though in a few short minutes is much much clearer images that many are saying are some of the best footage of the walk. Historians and astronomers that have viewed the films said the unseen minutes were the "best quality of Armstrong descending the ladder."


Discovery News article
Boing Boing article