Neil Armstrong

[Mickey Adams]

Although not a musician....The most famous man in the world passed today...I knew that I would get to meet him one day...and last March I did...A dream come true for me. And, I did it on a gig here in TX....RIP Neil, you were humankind's biggest hero..
Gene Cernan, RA Bob Hoover, Ronny McKinley, Neil Armstrong, myself, March 2012

[Bob Blair]

I'm glad you got to meet him Mickey. One of the great heroes of our time.

[J. R. McClung]

Really sad news about the passing of Neil Armstrong.
And I have to agree Mickey, Neil Armstrong was the world's greatest hero.
Glad you got to meet him.

Not trying to hijack your thread, but did you get to visit with "the pilot's pilot" Bob Hoover?


See ya...........Joel

[Jack Stoner]

I worked at the Ascension Island Apollo tracking station (PCM Telemetry Tech) and was there for that mission. Ascension, along with the tracking station in Spain were the two tracking station sites that tracked the Eagle to the moon landing.

I have a commemorative coin that was struck using metal from the Eagle that was brought back to earth. I don't know who all got the coins but the presentation folder it is in states "Apollo Team".

[George McLellan]

Neil was a member of the Board of Directors for US Steel. They were on a tour of the MinnTac mine where I was working and had the honor of taking him for a ride in one of our 240 ton Caterpilar haulage trucks. He was very interested in the on board computers.

Geo

[Mickey Adams]

JR, yes I visited with all of them separately. Before the band went on, I did about 90 minutes with my acoustic, solo for Bobs 90th Birthday bash. After the show we all gathered around and listened to stories from WWII for about 2 hours. Bob has lived an amazing life, and given so much to aviation...I felt like...No, I WAS visiting with the Royal Family this day. Meeting Neil was awesome, but to have Gene, and Bob there too...WOW...What a Gig!..Printed and framed this pic for my wall....

[Jack Shults]

Yes, we lost another hero.

My unit was on the Hawaii tracking station for that mission. I got to see the three of them, out in the Pacific while they were still in the quarantine capsule. It was exciting to meet them.

I still remember the excitement when we heard, "The Eagle Has Landed."

[Craig Stock]

I was 7 when we landed on the moon, we started a space club which consisted of jumping out of a tree with a sheet to simulate a parachute, drawing pictures, making a lunar lander out of cardboard boxes, and had a ball.

It was cool that Asronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were both from my home state of Ohio and Buzz Aldrin is from Montclair, NJ where I have lived for the last 47 years.

Mickey, enjoy your memories with the True Heroes!

[Michael Johnstone]

If you are a fan of the space program,especially the Apollo lunar program like me - now is a good time to check out "First Man" the official biography of Neil Armstrong. While you're at it, "Last Man On The Moon" by Gene Cernan is a must read as well. Very gripping - that one. "For All Mankind" is also in my bookcase and it's a very good overview of all 6 lunar landings and well as the ill-fated Apollo 13 and the 2 other non-landing lunar missions(Apollo 8 & 10). Finally,rent or buy the video documentary "In The Shadow Of The Moon" produced by Ron Howard where many if not all the living moon walkers recount their missions and experiences on the lunar surface.
To my mind the Apollo missions to the moon stand as the apotheosis of human science and technology and amazingly we've abandoned all that now and as likely as not thesedays you'll run across people who either know nothing about it & don't care or worse - they deny it actually happened. Dark ages are upon us I'm afaid...
RIP Mr. Armstrong. Humankind's biggest hero indeed.

[Skip Edwards]

I'm with you, Mike. Folks that weren't around then - or were too young - don't know how exciting the space program was in the '60's. I've read all those books and seen the films...very cool stuff.
I've met quite a few big-time musicians, etc, and that's cool & all, but the guys I've met that really had me star-struck were Buzz Aldrin, Alan Shepard and Charlie Duke.
Serious giants among men, if you ask me.

[Ned McIntosh]

A unique man has gone. RIP Neil Armstrong. Your place in history is assured, for all the right reasons.

I was a first year geology student at the Australian National University in July 1969 when the first moon-landing took place. There were no lectures that day, but about a hundred people, students and lecturers, were gathered in the main lecture-theatre in the Geology Building, watching the grainy black-and-white pictures on a television set hastily rigged on a table at the front.

The "hard-rock" guys (volcanic geologists) and the "soft-rock" guys (sedimentary geologists) had quite a few wagers running about the nature of the rocks on the lunar surface. When one of the astronauts picked up a rock and said "it looks like a breccia", a loud cheer came from the hard-rock guys at the rear of the lecture-theatre, and I believe several hundred dollars changed hands as the wagers were settled up.

Not just an all-American hero, Neil Armstrong was a hero for all mankind. He was the quintessential quiet achiever.

[Jack Stoner]

Michael, don't forget about Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo launch. Wally Shirra was the commander. It was an earth orbit mission.

I was fortunate to have been involved with all the Apollo missions, either at the Ascension Island tracking station or working with the network support team at Goddard Space Flight Center.

[Ron Page]

What an achievement Neil and his colleagues delivered. He spent much of his life here in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill; a pretty swanky place.

[Terry Wood]

Neil was a true American hero!

Here was a man who never let it go to his head too!

Just wish that I could have met him.

Terry Wood