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Neil Armstrong Has Died

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
August 25, 2012
Filed under , ,

Keith’s 3:14 pm note: Multiple sources in and around NASA and the space community confirm to NASA Watch that Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on another world, has died at the age of 82. More to follow. This is a hinge in history. More information at http://neilarmstronginfo.com
Statement from the Family of Neil A. Armstrong

“We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.
Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.
Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati.
He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits.
As much as Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of good will from people around the world and from all walks of life.
While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.
For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Statement by the President on the Passing of Neil Armstrong
NASA Administrator Statement on Neil Armstrong’s Death
Quote from Chief of the Astronaut Office on the Death of Neil Armstrong
Speaker Boehner Statement on the Passing of Neil Armstrong
Statement from Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 lunar module pilot, regarding the passing of Neil Armstrong
Statement from Nancy Conrad regarding the passing of Neil Armstrong
Statement by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on the Life of Neil Armstrong
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Statement on the Death of Neil Armstrong
Challenger Center Statement on the Death of Neil Armstrong
Kennedy Space Center Director Statement On Neil Armstrong’s Death
Coalition for Space Exploration: Neil Armstrong – A True Hero for All Mankind
Commercial Spaceflight Federation Mourns the Passing of Neil Armstrong
Statement by Glenn Research Center Director Ray Lugo on the Death of Neil Armstrong
Ranking Member Johnson and Ranking Member Costello Issue Statements on the Passing of Neil Armstrong

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

46 responses to “Neil Armstrong Has Died”

  1. rockofritters says:
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    it had to happen sooner or later but this is one giant sad day for mankind….

  2. Andrew_M_Swallow says:
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    Rest in peace.

  3. Fred says:
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    The United States could not have had a better individual represent it in the making of one of Man’s greatest achievements of all time. He was a great role model that no one would have been embarrassed to have their children emulate.

  4. OpenTrackRacer says:
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    Very sad.  I’m not into celebrities but Neil is one person I would have liked to meet. It’s too bad he tarnished his “legend” to so many people (myself included) with his outspoken and ill informed testimony and comments concerning Constellation and commercial space in the past few years.

    • JadedObs says:
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      Everyone is entitled to their opinion and his hardly can be said to have been ill-informed. The world did not move forward the way he had hoped and expected and he was expressing his views; they must have been all the more deeply felt given how rarely he spoke out on anything. At a time like this, we should reflect on his superb abilities as a pilot and great American hero not focus on the one thing in over forty years where not everyone agreed with him.

      • OpenTrackRacer says:
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        Certainly everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however it does not mean that they are well informed.  I don’t know how he formed his opinions or who might have influenced him.  Neil was very specific in his testimony and comments and since he did rarely speak out, people did listen.  That’s the critical point.  His comments (and those of Lovell and Cernan) completely ignored the conclusions of the Augustine Commission as well as the true current state of CxP and the budget realities facing NASA.  They also belittled the prospects of commercial crew.  For a group of men who made their flights on vehicles and systems engineered by a young agency such as NASA, which was full of young engineers, hearing them call out SpaceX and other commercial spaceflight companies as being unqualified due to the inexperience and “newness” was shocking and harmful.

        Make no mistake, Armstrong was a good man, a hell of a pilot and someone that recognized his place in history without monopolizing it.

        I’m just glad he kept it dignified, unlike Cernan.

    • John Gardi says:
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       OTR:

      I hear you on his comments about commercial spaceflight. I watched the testimony and felt that Neil Armstrong believed what he said. Misguided or misinformed, at least he was honest to a fault. As a hero, his integrity is intact as far as I’m concerned.

      tinker

    • newpapyrus says:
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       Neil argued that America should not turn its back on  establishing a permanent human presence on the lunar surface. And he was right!

      I also had a lot of respect for Neil when he hosted the PBS television mini-series, the Voyage of Charles Darwin!

      It took a giant to make that giant leap for humankind in July of 1969! And someday Neil Armstrong will be remembered and celebrated even in the far future by those humans who live around other suns in our galaxy!

      Marcel F. Williams

    • jski says:
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       “ill informed” … maybe that more appropriately applies to you?

      • OpenTrackRacer says:
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        I’m certainly not the only one to express this opinion (about Neil’s testimony or it’s impact on his posterity).  Just go back and look at the comments (and commentary) made at the time.

    • rockofritters says:
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       i thought about replying to this yesterday when it first appeared but I decided  I would probably just say something inappropriate. but I’ve thought about it and just for the tally books Neil Armstrong is the epitome of somebody who never did anything to tarnish his image. Suffice it to say you show off your ignorance of any real technical knowledge by your comment.

  5. Matt_Bille says:
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    I wrote Neil Armstrong’s bio for an encyclopedia once. I couldn’t speak to the man himself, but a close associate relayed messages. Ever modest, Armstrong asked that he not appear in the book Notable 20th-Century Scientists at all (a wish I couldn’t grant.) He did say he thought his pioneering work with fly-by-wire control systems, not being the moonwalker, was his most important achievement.  
    There’s a song that says, “We don’t need another hero…”  Well, we do. We have lost one of our greatest. 

  6. cuibono1969 says:
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    RIP, Neil Armstrong, the coolest astronaut ever.

  7. catlettuce redux says:
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    RIP, Legend and hero

  8. Anonymous says:
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    A truly genuine and inspirational figure for us all.  Let us hope that the platitudes from the
    politicians can now be backed with actions up to honor the accomplishments of
    Neil Armstrong and his colleagues. They were the embodiment of the US
    leadership and innovative spirit that we are now shrinking from.

  9. bobhudson54 says:
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    Rest in Peace, Neil. 

  10. Marc Boucher says:
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    Wow, this took me completely by surprise. A passing of a true hero.

  11. Ben Russell-Gough says:
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    I really can’t think of anything to say that won’t read like a cliché or even slightly insulting.  I’ll just content myself in saying that a unique and good man who did a truly great thing has left us.

    RIP Neil Armstrong.

  12. mattblak says:
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    Sad news for me. Even sadder is the chattering mess of morons in the comments section of CNN and other sites: When the majority of comments are coming from conspiracy loons, today I am wondering what kind of world am I living in these days?? 🙁

  13. jon_downfromthetrees says:
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    I’d seen the reports of his heart surgery and hoped he would be well. When he retired, Armstrong moved into a nice house — not extravagant, just nice — about 20 minutes from where I grew up. People knew where he lived, but no one made it a big deal.  They wouldn’t drive out of their way to show visitors. 

    A good man.  Many can say that.  An extraordinary pilot. A few can say that.  First man on the moon. No one else will ever be that. Someday, someday, there’ll be a little town on the moon and it will be called Armstrong.

  14. James Lundblad says:
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    To me he was a total Engineer, my favorite photo of him is the one with the X-15. I hope they do a movie that’s more about the man than the moon landing.

    http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj

  15. James Stanton says:
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    The first human to walk on another planet has died. It seemed to be the start of humans leaving the cradle of humanity. When will we get the will to do this again. RIP Neil.

  16. Helen Simpson says:
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    Probably the astronaut I most admired. Why? Because he was a real hero. He made a trip no one had ever done before, and the chances of him not returning were considered to be very substantial. Also, his modesty was totally appropriate. He knew he would be revered for his heroism, but his accomplishment was a very personal one, and one that reflected the courage and dedication of all the people he worked with. It was a legacy that had to make itself.

    I am struck by the understated elegance of the family statement. A statement with real class.

    “For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a
    simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and
    modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the
    moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

    What they ask of us is simply honoring Neil Armstrong as an example for all of us, and to give him a wink. I like that. Yes, I see the Moon a lot, and every time I see it, I’ll give him a wink. It’s by no means his Moon, and he isn’t a part of it, but it’s part of who he was. That wink will count more than all the statues that are erected in his honor, and all the lunar real estate that will get named after him. That wink is probably how he’d most like to be remembered.

  17. Anonymous says:
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    RIP to a true hero.

  18. Paul451 says:
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    Randall Munroe, XKCD, did a projection from actuarial tables for the remaining Apollo astronauts. http://xkcd.com/893/

    Even if Obama hadn’t cancelled the moon as a goal of Constellation/SLS, at the probable rate of development, it’s likely that there will again be a period where no living human has set foot on another world.

    [Don’t forget to mouse over the comic for the extra message.]

  19. Gerald Cecil says:
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    May his ashes one day rest on the Sea of Tranquility

  20. Mark_Flagler says:
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    I am saddened and outraged that Armstrong lived the remainder of his life without a permanent human presence on the moon. When he landed in the late 1960s we had the technology to make this possible within five to ten years.
    From the standpoint of evolution, this species crawled out of the ocean onto land, looked around and decided the water was cheaper and more politically acceptable. That’s not how a species evolves; it’s how one devolves.

  21. KSC21 says:
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    God bless Neil Armstrong and his family. He had a star role in one of the greatest accomplishments of our species to date. I can’t help but feel that we as a nation have failed his legacy. Who would have dreamed in 1969 that in 2012 we would have long lost human access to the moon let alone the capability of launching astronauts into space on our own?

  22. Nassau Goi says:
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    I’m not going to say anything Cliche.

    Neil’s death without a follow up existence on the moon is simply something that should not be accepted. We need to move on with human space exploration.

    That likely means not supporting the guy running for president who would fire anyone with any lunar colony ideas. But who am I to make such an argument?

  23. Robert Karma says:
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    Neil Armstrong’s legacy as the first human to set foot on the moon will last as long as our species survives to honor him. I look forward to the day humans can visit Tranquility Base located at Armstrong Memorial Park on the moon. When humanity moves out to explore the galaxy you can be sure one of the ships will be named the USS Armstrong. 

  24. Susan Smith says:
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    When my husband and I heard the news, we put up the American flag at half staff.  He deserved it.  We will see if the President orders the flags at half staff as he did for victims of shooting.  Neil Armstrong was a real American hero.

  25. Kevin_Cousineau says:
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    He lead a life of integrity. He wasn’t convicted of taking drugs. He didn’t have affairs with young women. He didn’t push his name in public. He didn’t take advantage of being the first man to walk on the moon. He was humble. He remained an engineer. Of all the people we see today who are tainted in their life with things that lead them astray, Neil keep going as an engineer and pilot, two things that the press and our youth no longer prize. Perhaps that is why we never returned to the moon.

  26. TFSmith1 says:
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    Fair winds and following seas, commander.

    Ad astra per ardua

  27. CryptOf Hope says:
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    The Mars Science Laboratory landing  this month was a truly great national achievement. I’m still trying to find the pic of the American flag on the lander images…anyone?

    Mr. Armstrong would not recognize the space program of today.
    He is spared witnessing further decline in the national space programs.

  28. LPHartswick says:
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    Mr. Armstrong you have served your country well; with dignity, courage, thoughtfulness and rectitude; all leavened with a generous measure of bonhomie. Take with you the memories of all you have accomplished and the regard of your fellow countrymen.  I wish you fair winds and following seas.

  29. robert_law says:
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    On 21st July 1969 using a Sanyo  intercontinental  radio  I heard Neil’s first steps on the moon  , on August 25 2012  using a vintage Sanyo intercontinental radio  I was saddened  to hear that Neil had died  , we have all lost our hero  but his memory will live on every time you see the moon  

  30. Daniel Woodard says:
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    I was in Turkey during the landing. A fellow who spoke a little English stopped me on the street and pointed to the full moon. “Armstrong!”, he said, “Neil Armstrong is on the moon!” It was a moment of pride, not just for America, but for the world.

  31. Peter R says:
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    An important memory of Neil Armstrong was his living saving actions on Gemini 8. When a maneuvering thruster was stuck on  and caused the spacecraft to spin uncontrollably, he had the foresight and clear thinking to fire the entry thrusters in the opposite direction. This allowed him to stabilize the capsule long enough to abort the nominal  mission and return to earth thereby saving his one life and that of David Scott.  His clear thinking and levelheadedness under conditions which would rapidly cause blackout were precursors to his clear thinking and levelheadedness when piloting the Eagle to a safe landing when the fuel gauge was on empty and unexpected boulders where all around the target area. Thank you for your service.

  32. Johnhouboltsmyspiritanimal says:
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    all these nice speeches yet the flags are not at half staff today, wtf. What does a guy have to do to be recognized and get the flags lowered. apparently the bar is set higher than walking on the moon.

    • DTARS says:
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      Flags should be set at half staff around the globe!

      Have we lost the wonder of it all?

      Have we forgotten?

  33. DTARS says:
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    Thought I’d leave this twice. the moon will always look different to me now.

    Monument
    Sunday  August 26th 2012
    I woke
    Somebody told me the news.
    They had heard the TV during the night.
    I wanted to hear the stories of his coolness under pressure, his humbleness .
    But all I heard was political rant.
    I’m not connected out here.
    I thought , What a historic day. The first human EVER to step foot on another celestial body is now a star child.
    I always felt two earthlings touched down on the moon at the same time, so who climbed down the ladder first made little difference.
    I thought how sad he never embraced Spacex, Commercial Space, the next phase, the future.
    After dark, I stepped outside and looked up, grave stone grey, a third of it was there.
    I stepped inside and said “It’s there.”
    only to hear “what’s there?”
     “The moon!” I said
    I heard a quiet laugh, “of course, what did you expect?”
    Before going to sleep I stepped outside to look again. It glowed orange as it sink in the past.
    I wondered how many of you had made a special point to look at it too?
    Neil is gone, Buzz remains
    Life on our planet races on.
    What future will we choose?
    PARALLEL LINES

  34. TMA2050 says:
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    I’m very sad that Neal has passed. One thing I’m very proud of though is that all the men who went to the moon are heroes in my mind. I look at it all as one mission, backed by over 400,000 people making it happen. Landing a manned spacecraft on another WORLD? It’s science fiction but yet, it really happened.  

    Neil was a trailblazer and we all follow in his footsteps.