Early this morning I woke to the news that a real technology hero, Neil Armstrong, had passed away following complications of a heart operation.
Armstrong is known mainly for his famous moon landing and being the first human to place foot on the moon. His famous words from 20 July 1969 were of course “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”.
US President Barack Obama has said Armstrong was “among the greatest of American heroes – not just of his time, but of all time”.
Whilst very true, I feel that Armstrong was actually the greatest hero in the world to technology. Armstrong inspired not just one or two generations but will continue to inspire generations going forward. In his own words during a 30th anniversary celebration (1999) Armstrong said he was just a simple “technology geek”.
I say Neil Armstrong was the greatest technology hero of all time.
Armstrong was the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. During touch down on the lunar surface over 500 million people watched live on TV. Once they put foot on the moon Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin “buzz) Aldrin spent 3 hours on the surface exploring, collecting samples, conducting experiments and of course taking photos.
Apollo 11 was Armstrong’s last space mission. In 1971, he left the US space agency NASA to teach aerospace engineering.
So today we both mourn and celebrate the death and life of the greatest ever technology hero, Mr Neil Armstrong.
