[guide.chat] niel armstrong

From: "harold kitching" <harold.kitching01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "guide chat" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 15:23:11 +0100
 First man on moon Neil Armstrong dead at 82: NBC

Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:07pm EDT

(Reuters) - Former U.S. astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot 
on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.

Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days 
after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to 
set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, 
Armstrong said: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for 
mankind."

Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.

Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had 
fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed 
him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his 
accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.

"I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for 
the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 
Minutes" program in 2005.

He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on 
the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody 
goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said.

A VERY PRIVATE MAN

James Hansen, author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," told 
CBS: "All of the attention that ... the public put on stepping down that 
ladder onto the surface itself, Neil never could really understand why there 
was so much focus on that."

The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. 
The next year he was appointed to a desk job, being named NASA's deputy 
associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research 
and technology.

Armstrong's post-NASA life was a very private one. He took no major role in 
ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the moon landing. "He's a 
recluse's recluse," said Dave Garrett, a former NASA spokesman.

"Howard Hughes had nothing on him," he said, speaking of the reclusive 
aviator.

Hansen said stories of Armstrong dreaming of space exploration as a boy were 
apocryphal, although he was long dedicated to flight. "His life was about 
flying. His life was about piloting," Hansen said.

He left NASA a year after Apollo 11 to become a professor of engineering at 
the University of Cincinnati.

The former astronaut lived in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Carol.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away 
following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," the 
family said in a statement. "Neil was our loving husband, father, 
grandfather, brother and friend.

(Writing by Philip Barbara, editing by Sandra Maler and Bill Trott)
[guide.chat] niel armstrong

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