I Have a Bone to Pick with Neil Armstrong

On July 20, 1969, I was a 14 year old who had been following the U.S. space program since Alan Shepherd's first suborbital flight in 1961. I have somewhat dim memories of John Glenn's flight, but I remember the Gemini program quite well, and have vivid memories of Apollo. I was especially impressed by the first humans to orbit the moon in Apollo 8, but also thoroughly enjoyed Stafford and Cernan swearing like marines (they were actually air force and navy) when the lunar module went berserk in lunar orbit during the Apollo 10 mission. And then, of course, there was the epic voyage of Apollo 11.

I'm pretty sure I saw the launch at 6:32AM Wednesday morning July 16, because we almost always got up early to watch the moonshots. The drama of a countdown still has the ability to send me over the edge emotionally. Four days later, on Sunday the 20th, the lunar module touched down at 1:17PM Kennewick time and I was in love. The phrases "pickin' up some dust" and "Houston, Tranquillity Base here" still choke me up when I think about it. A few hours later, at 7:56PM PDT, Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon.

Of course, I was glued to the little black and white TV in our basement in Kennewick for both the landing and the moonwalk. I remember seeing our neighbor, George Simmons, silhouetted on the window drapes soon before Armstrong's "One small step" moment and my Father saying that we would be on Mars by 1980. I wish.

The space program as a whole, and Apollo 11 in particular had a huge impact on my adolescent mind that carried through to my decision to major in Aeronautics and Astronautics and to work in the aerospace industry. I had high hopes that space flight would be a major part of that industry and that we would become a truly space-faring civilization. However, as everyone knows, we retreated from that incredible opportunity and have been cowering in low Earth orbit ever since. I had hoped that by this time, to quote a famous captain, we would be "on a hundred planets and spreading out" (points if you guess who said it) or at least on a few planets. Sadly, no. I hate to agree with anything that blowhard Charles Krauthammer says, but today he pretty much nailed it in his editorial on the subject.

So... what is my problem with Neil Armstrong you may ask? Here's the thing: Neil Armstrong is an American icon who could have had a powerful effect as an advocate of the space program and been an inspiration to thousands of young people considering technical careers in the years since Apollo. Instead, he has become a virtual recluse in some hick town in Ohio, rarely (if ever) gives interviews and won't even sign autographs for the kids. If you watch TV specials about the Apollo program, you hear from just about everybody who was involved but not the man himself. My early hero worship turned to irritation years ago and recently to resentment. The first man on the moon won't talk to anybody. What a jerk.

Since Apollo, America has turned inward. Until recently, many of the graduates from our best universities went into investment banking for god's sake. Now, that shows a sad lack of imagination and, in a sense, courage. Land of the free? Maybe. Home of the brave? I don't think so.