The proponents of so-called NewSpace are not those who seek to improperly use the several Apollo crews fame for their own agenda. It is pretty sad they are being pulled into this. If people actually had respect for anyone of them, they would leave them alone and let them do on their own what they think they ought to do. not use them for political purposes. And one day, someday, Neil, Eugene and the others will visit NewSpace and they will get it. They will understand. Kraft showed he is starting to get it already. He too landed on the Moon in his own way and if he can get it, the other crews will as well. Just watch.

“don’t know what they don’t know yet.”

you and Rummy both misuse the heck out of that and Uncle Helmuth’s other various “know/dont know”. goobers RGO

“Re – ‘Schmidt’ — meant Schmitt- apologies for the typo on his name.”

No problem. It happens all the time.

“Neil Armstrong was satisfied to be a one-time hero.”

I wouldn’t say that. I was quite excited as a boy by the remarkable flights Armstrong and his cohorts made in the X-15 series. And Mr. Armstrong was certainly a hero when he remained calm, cool and collected during the Gemini 8 emergency. Indeed, Dave Scott still publicly thanks Neil Armstrong for saving his life during that perilous mission. Then there was Armstrong’s brush with death in the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. Armstrong was (and is) a consummate professional. And that describes his role on the Rogers commission. Mr. Armstrong was there to find out what happened — not to produce sound bytes. I can’t think of a single NTSB accident investigation that produced sound bytes. Engineers, like surgeons, do their work quietly and professionally.

As for Neil Armstrong’s famous quote when stepping onto the lunar surface …

It will be remembered long after anything you or I have ever said or written has gone to the trash bin of history. Moreover, I think it was a wonderful bit of prose. Armstrong made the point that he was just one man taking one small step. But that step truly represented a giant leap for mankind. For the first time in human history, our species was setting foot on another world. Armstrong captured the significance of that step — and that moment — with one of the most oft-quoted statements in history.

As Dave English wrote in the current (August 2012) issue of SKY & TELESCOPE, “A record-breaking audience of some 600 million people listened as Armstrong spoke slowly and with solemnity the most famous words ever uttered in space.”

BTW, English notes that an Australian computer expert has found the missing article (the ‘a’) in Armstrong’s statement. Whether or not Neil said “man” rather than “a man” is not important. What is important is that everyone understood what he meant.

Yeh you keep saying this and so far there’s no evidence of it.

“The NewSpace crowd are the kids.”

Kids, indeed. Who as with all children, are prone to get into trouble at times and “don’t know what they don’t know yet.”

Mr. Armstrong’s job on the Rogers commission was to uncover what had caused the Challenger accident. He succeeded.

I wouldn’t say that. The commission succeeded, and Armstrong may well have helped it do so. I’d also like to say that the purpose of a very public commission was to reach out to the stunned and saddened public with some perceptions about risk management. So the job was more than asking about the percentage of the ice that was due to ambient conditions. They were chosen to represent the engineering and technical community to the American citizenry, who lost these fine people.

Ah, the first-step-on-the-Moon quote. The one he flubbed. Well, I never held that against him. But as awestruck as I was by the lunar landings, that particular quote was really not that inspirational to me. He could have recited Haiku or told a joke, and people’s jaws still would have still been on the floor.

I never said that Mae Jemison wasn’t a hero. I said she wasn’t a one-time hero. That’s precisely the point. Neil Armstrong was satisfied to be a one-time hero. Mae Jemison was not.

“Certainly Neil Armstrong is first and foremost an engineer, and quite clearly never aspired to be anything more. Again, I can’t fault him for that. But I will say that there was potential that he didn’t develop.”

Mr. Monroe, you need to remember that the one thing most people fear the most is public speaking. I’m a public speaker myself. But after many years (decades), I still get butterflies in my stomach as I stride to the podium. By his own admission, Mr. Armstrong is not a public speaker, although I think he does a fine job whenever he speaks. He measures his words carefully. He is articulate. And he has a good sense of humor. Mr. Armstrong has, in fact, spoken at many events over the years, as I pointed out earlier in this thread. Most of them have been related to the aerospace industry. Of course, he also spoke to ‘audiences’ every day as a university professor — inspiring a generation of young engineers in a most direct and positive way. The wisdom Professor Armstrong passed on to those students will carry on long after he has departed this world for good.

One other point about public speaking …

After Surveyor I successfully landed in June 1966 (46 years ago), my Father was interviewed by several television reporters, and he was asked to give some lectures about the mission. He had been responsible for the design and development of Surveyor’s “eyes” — the camera system that was the principle instrument aboard those spacecraft. Dad was an outstanding engineer. He later developed instruments that measured the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter (aboard the Pioneer-Venus and Galileo descent probes). But he was never a public speaker. Poor Dad struggled through those interviews and lectures. He came across well enough. But his stomach was in knots the entire time whenever he had to speak.

I have a friend who became president of a major U.S. airline. I served as a communications consultant to him, and the first assignment he gave to me was to talk on his behalf with the business editors of the local newspapers. I was supposed to discuss his background and experience. He was an excellent engineer and manager. But he was a dismal public speaker, and he dreaded having to talk with the media. Some people (most people) dread being in the spotlight.

Heinrich Monroe also wrote:

“But his line of questioning in the Rogers commission did not reflect the thinking of a man who wants to engage, inspire, and lead. The Armstrong quotes you pulled out are largely mechanistic ones. Are those really the best you could find?”

Mr. Armstrong’s job on the Rogers commission was to uncover what had caused the Challenger accident. He succeeded.

As for a quote from Neil Armstrong that can engage, inspire and lead … try this one on for size:

“That’s one small step for (a) man … one giant leap for mankind.”

And Heinrich Monroe opined:

“Mae Jemison might not be a onetime hero, but she is certainly the latter, is engaging and inspirational, and continues to reach for new and visionary goals.”

But you are wrong again. Dr. Jemison IS a hero. She is certainly a hero to the kids in some of Chicago’s neighborhood schools who have been inspired by her visits and presentations. That said, you should remember that Mae Jemison is no stranger to the stage. Among her many talents, she is a performer, too. And that gift certainly helps Dr. Jemison in her efforts to inspire the next generation of explorers. I think she’s TERRIFIC!

As for her political endorsements …

This is a free country. And NASA’s astronaut corps has always reflected the diversity of thought that make this a great country. In his excellent book, The All-American Boys, Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham mentions how he and Rusty Schweickart shared an office and a friendship. But they were polar opposites politically. Cunningham and Elliott See both openly endorsed Barry Goldwater in 1964. Of course, John Glenn would have supported his friend, John Kennedy, had it not been for the terrible tragedy of November 22, 1963. (That day will be forever etched in my memory, especially after visiting the museum in Dallas a few years ago.) So Dr. Jemison’s endorsement of President Obama is neither surprising nor anything new.

The grumpy old man may have accomplished a lot in his life. But he doesn’t like the kids playing on his lawn. The NewSpace crowd are the kids. Space is the lawn.