When I was a youngster, and I mean pretty young from about age 5 to age 15 or so, I had a few different real life heroes that I worshipped. One was Buffalo Bill Cody, another was Wild Bill Hickok, another was Daniel Boone and another was much more modern than the other three. He was John Glenn. John Glenn was one of the first U.S. Astronauts to orbit the globe, he was also a pilot of the X-15, the aircraft that holds the all time air speed record. In fact, if an inanimate object could be a hero, then the X-15 was one for me and John Glenn was its master. John Glenn held a place in my imagination and in my heart, I esteemed him above almost anyone else in those youthful days of yesteryear.
I never heard much of the others who flew the X-15, there were about 7 other test pilots who flew it with some regularity. They were all either brave or foolish or both. One of them, a man who was not one to take to the spotlight often, and who reportedly considered himself a geek or a nerd, also wound up being one of the biggest media stars ever. In fact, news casts of him and his co-astronaut, during a single event lasting just around 3 hours, was and remains the most viewed television event of all times having had over 600,000,000 (yes, six hundred million) viewers as it happened live. That event was mankind's first landing on a world other than our own, with Neil Armstrong being the first man to set foot on the Moon. Before even being close to exiting the lunar module though, Neil Armstrong contacted earth and uttered some words that likely would have been remembered as one of the most famous quotes ever had those words not soon been overshadowed by other words he would speak once out of the capsule. The first words, from Armstrong to Mission Control were:
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
With those first words, the Lunar Landing gave the United States of America a victory in the Space Race segment of the Cold War over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (commonly known as the USSR or now called Russia). Yet, not long after saying those words, Armstrong would say something that no other man will be in the position of saying ever again, at least not with the same meaning and authority and originality, because that second famous set of words came at the moment he was the first human to set foot on a world not our own. He said:
"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
(The word "a" is in parenthesis because it was inaudible in the transmissions to earth and while he meant to say it, and for years believed he had said it, Armstrong later admitted he somehow may have left it out in all the excitement of the lunar landing. There is still controversy over whether he said "a man" or simply "man" and a computer programmer from Australia, who digitally analyzed the audio in recent years, claims that Armstrong did in fact say "a man". Armstrong has been reported as hoping that history would overlook it if he had slipped and said "man" instead of "a man". He was that sort of a guy.)
As I said, he was not one to stand in the spot lights, not a glory seeker, not one to beat his chest and say I was the first man ever to set foot on another world. Yet, he was quite proud of his accomplishments but still considered himself a nerd:
"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in February 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."
Armstrong was also a patriot who believed strongly that lunar and other space exploration would benefit the USA and mankind. He did not agree at all with the new policies on privatizing space exploration set in place by President Barack H. Obama and despite his very private and retiring personality in 2010 he spoke out against those policies.
Many might think of the space race as just another of mans' wars. Indeed it was often part of the Cold War and was championed by the U.S. President John F. Kennedy during the height of the Cold War when he set forth this challenge for America:
"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth," Kennedy had said. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
Armstrong felt differently about the Space Race, not thinking it so much part of a war as something else:
"the ultimate peaceful competition: USA versus U.S.S.R. It did allow both sides to take the high road, with the objectives of science and learning and exploration".
Armstrong had a lot of help along the way, it was a massive team effort, yet he was the one to actually accomplish being the first to set foot on the Moon. That was on July 21, 1969, just shy of the deadline at the end of the decade, as had been set by President Kennedy!
That he was a patriot and a hero, there is no doubt. That he was a reserved, quiet and private man, there is also no doubt. That he was and remains and American icon, a man of merit even among all those in the world, a man of whose accomplisments
"To this day, he's the one person on Earth, I'm truly, truly envious of."
Neil Armstrong, you will, as long as there are those who dream of traveling among the stars, live forever. Godspeed across the Universe Divide, I hope you do reach the other side, then rest your spirit if you can, before you come back to us again and again and again.
All the best,
Glenn B
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