So as many of you probably know Neil Armstrong passed away recently. While it certainly is a blow, it is by no means unexpected:
I am by no means old enough to remember Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic walk. I was however lucky enough to grow up being the son of an engineer. One of my father’s good friends worked on the Apollo program. I will say I’m not a big fan of NASA, but I will not allow my dislike of them to taint or color the value and accomplishment of the Apollo program.
Growing up I looked at Apollo and it meant one thing to me, if I can dream it, I can build it.* Hence my becoming an engineer.
I want to see us return in my life time. But everyone in that program can take solace in the fact they helped inspire a bunch of people to become engineers. No just at that time, but continuing forward even today.
So pardon me while I go give a wink at the moon.
Good bye Neil and God Speed.
*It is worth noting what sealed my decision to be an engineer was seeing the development of the Physio Control Life Pack as well as the Automatic External Defibrillator. The fact I saw something my dad and his friends built from the ground up that at the time only had the potential to save lives and revolutionize everything. Yup, it did exactly that. The Apollo program’s impact though was no slouch either.
TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.
Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.
I watched them all, from Mercury on, and was lucky enough to meet Shepard, Armstrong, Carpenter and Young a number of years ago at a meeting in Pensacola. One of my AOCS classmates (Kay Hire) is currently an Astronaut.