

Armstrong said he had “substantial reservations.”Īlong with more than two dozen Apollo-era veterans, he signed a letter calling the plan a “misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable future.” He testified before Congress, and in an email to the Associated Press, Mr. Armstrong went public in 2010 with his concerns about President Obama’s space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon and emphasized private companies developing spaceships. Glenn said.Ī man who kept away from cameras, Mr.

“That showed a dedication to what he was doing that was admirable,” Mr. Armstrong was on low fuel when he finally brought the lunar module Eagle down on the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong’s closest friends, recalled Saturday how Mr. John Glenn, a fellow Ohioan and astronaut and one of Mr. “He was the ultimate hero in an era of corruptible men.”įormer Sen. “I think his genius was in his reclusiveness,” Mr. Armstrong fit every requirement the space agency needed for the first man to walk on moon, especially because of his engineering skills and the way he handled celebrity by shunning it. Armstrong for NASA’s oral history project, said Mr. Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley, who interviewed Mr. “And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession.” “I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer,” he said in 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. Armstrong never allowed himself to be caught up in the celebrity and glamour of the space program.
#First man on the moon newspaper Patch#
Armstrong stopped in what he called “a tender moment” and left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.Īlthough he had been a Navy fighter pilot, a test pilot for NASA’s forerunner and an astronaut, the modest Mr. In those first few moments on the moon, Mr. “The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to,” Mr. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the lunar surface, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. Kennedy made for the nation to put a man on the moon before the end of 1960s. The accomplishment fulfilled a commitment President John F. 4, 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, a 184-pound satellite that sent shock waves around the world. The moonwalk marked America’s victory in the Cold War space race that began Oct. He was “a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” his family said in a statement.
