I really don't know what to think. I'm kind of numb.
I wasn't old enough to watch the Apollo 11 lunar landing - even a geeks have a babyhood, and since I was 16 months old at the time, I claim exemption - but I grew up with this guy as one of my heroes. Oh, I know I talk about the fictitional ones here on my blog, but for the most part they are just that - fictional. This guy did what only 12 others - *twelve* - have even done, and he was the first.
It's not like I actually got to meet him. He was a very private person, and understandably avoided public events. I don't blame him. He was more famous than the Pope.
I heard someone say, while I was flipping channels, that this was the end of the Age of Armstrong. When we go back to the Moon and beyond - and I seriously think that we should, and soon - and continue to explore our infinitesimally small corner of the universe, we should always carry his spirit of curiosity and courage. He was a man. A human. One of us.
But in the eyes of millions, he was a real superhero.
Rest in peace, Neil, and Godspeed.
NASA / AP |
Fin.