Neil Armstrong

Very cool!

Thanks Andy. Got the Autograph as a 60th birthday present.

What cooler birthday present could there possibly be than a signed framed photo of the first man on the moon.  Who ever gifted you that is awesome.

I added the photo, the autograph was given to me for my birthday.  What makes it so special is that it was written at a time later in his life when he had stopped doing autographs.  This is not one of the official NASA autographs sold after the Apollo 11 mission.  I had it framed myself.   The friend who gave it to me I have known for over 35 years and yes he is awesome.

Reminds me of a great article I read recently - possibly in 'Sky & Telescope' or 'Astronomy' - one of the American magazines.

Apparently the first thing Armstrong did on the moon was pick up a rock - just in case they suddenly had to get the hell out of there, they'd at least have something to take home for the kids - I mean, for the scientists.

Also, it wasn't long before he looked down at where he'd made his 'first step' - and realised that he had stepped all over it!!!

Finally, he named a small crater after his daughter who had died at the age of about 2, because he thought she would have loved to go sliding down the sides of the crater. It brought out a rarely revealed human side to a most extraordinary man - and Brian: you have his autograph! Awesome. And I never use that word!

I was speechless when I got it.  Not something I usually suffer from.  He was a very quiet unassuming man, did not like the limelight.  He saw the trip to the moon as just a job.  He was a civilian test pilot unlike the others who where from military, a throw back to when the USAF was running the space programme.

His experience as a test pilot was to come into great use when they were about to land on the moon.  The computer decided to abort as the original landing site was littered with boulders, not what they were expecting.  He switched to manual and landed the module with seconds to spare.  By the way they used photographs to map for landing sites and not as Patrick Moore claimed maps he had drawn.

What is even more poignant to me is that I remember watching the landings live on television and then seeing him step on the moon.

He switched to manual

It all comes down to the training.

<div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title">Brian Blake wrote:</div>
He switched to manual

It all comes down to the training.

In one of the documentaries about Armstrong or the Appolo 11 mission that I've seen (none of the them with any interviews with armstrong himself), Buzz Aldrin talked about that day Neil ejected seconds before the crash. When Neil met up with Buzz casually at the diner or bar (sorry cant remember where), Neil was just acting as if was another day at work. It just wasnt a big deal to him! The way Buzz told it, was pretty funny.

Brian, what a friend you have.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc ="s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CFIQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fvideo%2Findex%2F261609%2Fneil-armstrongs-first-steps-on-the-moon%2F&ei=kW8sVOHIKM2u7Ab1uYGIBw&usg=AFQjCNFxHPlrP8lqA_fVxVOnjNxiWTHfng&sig2=4su5HAkH4lrd6w1lr9SRiA" . Watch this.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc ="s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFgQFjAK&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgizmodo.com%2Fwhy-neil-armstrong-got-to-be-the-first-to-step-on-the-m-1605861089&ei=kW8sVOHIKM2u7Ab1uYGIBw&usg=AFQjCNHsApeEzRKFcz59FRQpSbZHYZnLyQ&sig2=RDyZh0YIT1WEWS9yVr-2Xg."