Neil Armstrong Dies at 82

Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died today at the age of 82. Armstrong died from complications due to heart surgery he underwent a few days after his August 5th birthday.

On July 20 1969 at 20:17:39 UTC Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Moduel (LEM) on the surface of the moon in an area known as the Sea of Tranquility. The first words Armstrong intentionally spoke to Mission Control and the world from the lunar surface were, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

About six and a half hours later Armstrong set his left boot on the lunar surface at 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969, then spoke the famous words “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

I was a kid when the landing and moon walk occurred, but my parents made sure that my sister and I watched the fuzzy images on our TV. Our condolences go out top Armstrong’s family and friends in this time of loss.

1 Comment

Comments are closed.