Get ready to facepalm, this was all in my twitter feed this morning …
… and yes, there is sadly a great deal more of that … to which the only possible response is to perhaps simply roll your eyes and sadly shake your head as you walk away. It would indeed appear that the urban legend of his conversion to Islam has gone viral within sections of the Islamic community once again. The only small consolation to grasp from it all is that at least they acknowledge the moon landing really happened and have not bought into the moon hoax claims.
He was of course a legend in his own lifetime, a name known to almost every human on the planet. There is much to be said, but many others out there are doing a truly fine job.
Long after we are all gone and no longer even remembered, he will still be remembered by those far and distant humans. In fact it is just possible that long after the human species has passed, his footprints will still be there on the surface of the moon.
Links
Here are a few nice links …
- Debunking the “He converted to Islam” hoax
- Another debunking here …
And no doubt the moon hoax claims will start to pop up again, so here are a few links for that
Here are some nice links on Armstrong as well
- Last May he gave an interview, here is a transcript of it
- Apollo 11 takes off – video with commentary by the finest of Apollo historians http://gu.com/p/29apq/tw Also: http://gu.com/p/3vdd3/tw
- First man on the moon – in pictures http://gu.com/p/3a2x3/tw
- 21 July 1969: Man walks on the moon http://gu.com/p/2pefm/tw
- Here is a clip of some nutter attempting to
Neil Armstrong Quotes & Observations
The picture here is of a teary-eyed Neil Armstrong photographed by Buzz Aldrin shortly after walking on the moon.
In response to the old question – Was the moon landing faked? … “People love conspiracy theories, I mean, they are very attractive. But it was never a concern to me because I know one day, somebody is going to go fly back up there and pick up that camera I left.”
Buzz Aldrin once said that Neil wasn’t ready to become that hero, he only ever focused on completing the current mission.
Sir Patrick Moore once said that Neil was the ultimate gentleman worthy of mans greatest achievement.
I wasn’t chosen to be first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role. That wasn’t planned by anyone.
As we prepared for our landing, I asked Buzz, “Were you ever afraid that something would go wrong?” “I guess I was,” he said tranquilly. “But it is too late now, to turn back. Besides, I highly doubt anything will go wrong, at least nothing we won’t be able to fix.” His words brought some comfort to me, and we proceeded with our preparations.
It’s time to land on the moon. Gosh, I hope this works. I’m not certain what to say when I step on the moon. I’ve been thinking for a while now, but I have nothing.
The fuel was low! I’d seen this before, but it hadn’t presented itself as a problem then. We had just enough to land….fast. Be calm, I told myself, that always helped. I accelerated Eagle towards a clearing. After my heart nearly tripled its speed, I heard a thud, then joyous cheering from base.
That’s one small step for a man.” I paused, and for a split second, I thought about how many people had worked their entire lives to make this possible. Moreover, how lucky I was to be here. “One giant leap for mankind.”
[Least you wonder, he has said that he actually did say ‘a’, it was simply not audible]
We only had a few minutes to ourselves. I sauntered around for a while, and then looked up at that eternal sky. I saw that familiar, bright, beautiful planet, Earth. That’s when I comprehended how far away from home I really was. Then it hit me. I was truly on the moon. My life’s dream, fulfilled. I am on the moon.
“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small..”
I was elated, ecstatic and extremely surprised that we were successful.
My gaze shifted to the stars. They had never seemed so clear – the trillions and trillions of them. Each of them had their own solar system, the solar system had several planets, and the planets have countless moons, just like ours. Infinite possibilities. I decided we had accomplished something by exploring the moon, and we did it successfully. However, this was not the end of this astounding journey into space. It’s just the beginning. It is just the beginning of future space exploration, for generations to come.