History will long remember Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon and who died Saturday at 82. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said as grainy black and white images of him made their way back to our television sets. I remember watching at summer camp on July 20, 1969.
Armstrong was a hero for many reasons. But a quote from the late astronaut gives us a glimpse into what motivated him as a young Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War to what kept him going as he entered the space program and eventually walked on the lunar surface.
Armstrong was a hero for many reasons. But a quote from the late astronaut gives us a glimpse into what motivated him as a young Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War to what kept him going as he entered the space program and eventually walked on the lunar surface.
Armstrong spoke to Life magazine a few weeks before Apollo 11 lifted off for the moon. He described what the mission meant to him: "The single thing which makes any man happiest is the realization that he has worked up to the limits of his ability, his capacity. It's all the better, of course, if this work has made a contribution to knowledge, or toward moving the human race a little farther forward."
Armstrong did that, and more.
Armstrong did that, and more.