The first man to step on the moon has died. Famously publicity shy, Neil Armstrong was hard to figure out. Watch him on video over the last four decades.
Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong has died at the age of 82. Read NASA’s announcement here.
I was a big Apollo 11 fan as a kid. I was 8 years old when they landed on the moon. My brother and I saved newspaper clippings about the event, and I still have them. Like this one:
And, one of my favorites, this depiction of the whole plan to put a man on the moon, told in an easy-to-grok newspaper graphic:
Later in life I learned that some people thought the whole thing was a hoax. I’ve read up on that stuff, and I even own a DVD that claims to prove it was a hoax (it doesn’t). At this point my problem with the hoax theory is that if They really DID pull of a hoax like that, it’s a pretty impressive feat, maybe even MORE impressive than actually landing on the moon, so it’s a wash.
Anyway, enjoy these videos.
Neil Armstrong’s parents, on the game show I’ve Got A Secret, in 1962:
An ABC News profile of Neil Armstrong from July of 1969:
This awkward press conference from after the moon landing:
This 1970 interview with the BBC, in which Armstrong says he is “certain” we’ll have moon bases “in our lifetime”:
And this 2009 speech, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 12:
Finally, as a fan of Neil Armstrong (as much as I know about the guy), I would recommend this parody from The Onion, from 2009.