Neil Armstrong dead at 82

[kcshocker11]

http://news.yahoo.com/neil-armstrong-1st-man-moon-dies-193954975.html



RIP to a true American Hero:cry:

[60Shock]

Absolutely, Mr. Armstrong is an All American hero and was a most gracious gentleman in all respects. He never sought the spot light, in fact, he shied away from it even after this most significant achievement.

Perhaps I am in the minority, but what upsets me the most about our space program, or lack thereof, is that 43 years ago (nearly a half century in the past and an eternity in scientific and engineering developments and improvements in all fields), we had the capability to put men on the moon. Yet, today, it will now take us approximately another projected 10 years to return men once again. Back in the early stages of our nearly non-existent original space program in 1960's (under JFK), it took us less than this amount of time to do it the first time. But at least we are moving forward.

And for all of the soothsayers who claim that the money could be better spent by using it to help the poor and increasing our welfare programs even more, keep in mind that one, if not the most important aspect of the original program resulted in the influx of some of our most brilliant young minds to redirect their studies into engineering and science to become a part of the excitement and adventure. The same opportunities and challenges present themselves once again to our young men and women who are willing, capable, and adventuresome.

Yes, the program is costly, but not significantly more costly that the wasted hundreds of billions of dollars thrown away over the last couple of years with virtually nothing to show for it. But even in our initial space program, there were numerous spinoff achievements and advancements in technology and medicine (that no one even imagined or dreamed of) which have resulted in significant benefits to mankind. It stands to reason that providing our most brilliant and industrial people a chance again to work together and excel will likely foster another science and technology revolution. In the past, the American people and industries have always risen to the occasion and have excelled when faced with a challenge. There is certainly no reason to assume that this will not happen once again.

[BenWSU]

Let private companies out there get us back to the moon and not rely on NASA