Rest in Peace Neil Armstrong

The weekend of August 25-26, 2012 was one for the history books, a very personal and sad one, but ended with a seeing a good to great movie.

What was it that happened this past weekend that will be remembered in the history books.  Neil Armstrong,  the first man to set foot on the moon, passed away on August 25, 2012.

As a young boy in kindergarten and first grade I watched with anticipation and wonder as the United States put people on the moon.  At the time, I wanted to be an astronaut and nothing would stop me, it was a simple thing for a five year old to figure out.  Two people went to the moon, then two more and two more, and so on and so on and so on, and then on to mars, the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, and beyond.  Hundreds of people would be needed to go, of course they would need a large supply of astronauts ready to brave the dangers of space, and I was just such a person.  I knew it deep in my soul. 

And as I said, noting was going to stop me.  I just didn't realize that in a few short years, the Apollo program would end - no more missions to the moon , instead we started sending this big thing that looked more like a plane than a rocket ship up into space.  What kind of excitement did that generate - None.  So as I grew up the space exploration didn't it just languished in low Earth orbit.  And with time I let those dreams of being an astronaut go.

It is a sad day that we loose our pioneer to space, our true American hero.  On hearing of his passing I was immediately taken back to the playground, where me and my two friends, Jack and Billy, pretended we were astronauts going into space, we were Neil Armstrong.  Billy moved away and I lost touch with him, Jack graduated from the same high school as I and earned a slot at the Air Force Academy, but he didn't finish flight school, I've often wondered if he still kept those dreams of being an astronaut.  My self, I've held many different jobs, I did complete college after a fashion, but the closest I've come to space is writing science fiction stories.

Neil Armstrong left his mark on billions of people around the world.  Some more profound than others, but a mark, and inspiration nevertheless.