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Apollo astronauts Buzz
Aldrin (left) and Neil Armstrong (right) at the National Museum of
USAF in Ohio.
(File Photo: AP) |
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 Plans on
to land scientific lab on moon named after Prophet Mohammad:
Muslims are planning to
land a scientific lab called Mohammad I on the moon .....
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Washington: In the four decades since the world
watched his "one giant leap for mankind", Neil Armstrong hasn't had
much use for the limelight.
So as the first man on the moon celebrates his 80th birthday on
Thursday, no large party is expected.
Last year, he took part in celebrations for the 30th anniversary of
his famous moon landing July 20, 1969, but with seemingly less
enthusiasm than his colleague Buzz Aldrin.
Still, discussions about the future of NASA's manned exploration
programme this year after President Barack Obama moved to scrap a
planned return to the moon again brought the legend before Congress.
Armstrong, who has rarely made public statements since his
history-making accomplishment, criticised that the plans abandoned a
vision already approved by Congress, without consultation with key
stakeholders.
He also signed a letter to Obama along with other Apollo astronauts
Eugene Cernan and Jim Lovell, saying the new plan did not provide
enough clear details and put the goal too far off, leaving the US
"on a long downhill slide to mediocrity".
Born in 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong flew in his first plane
at age six. At 15 he'd started flying, working odd jobs around his
town to pay for lessons at a local airport.
He got a pilot's license before he could drive a car, according to
his NASA biography.
After being called to active duty in the US Navy in 1949, Armstrong
flew 78 combat missions during the Korean War, and later worked as
an engineer and test pilot.
He became an astronaut in 1962 and flew his first space mission in
1966. His trip to the moon required four years of training,
according to NASA.
His first steps on the lunar surface were shown on live television
in homes around the world, immortalising his famous observation,
"That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind".
Armstrong and his fellow Apollo 11 astronauts, Michael Collins and
Aldrin, were embraced as national heroes after their historic moon
landing, even receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from
Richard Nixon. But Armstrong has tried to lead a quiet life.
He retired from space flight after his trip to the moon. He spent a
year as a senior NASA administrator and then taught aerospace
engineering until 1979.
For many years he refused to appear in advertisements, and when he
became a spokesman for Chrysler in 1979 it was reportedly because he
admired their engineering division.
Since then, Armstrong has worked largely in the private sector,
serving on the board of Marathon Oil, Learjet and United Airlines,
among others.
Numerous American elementary schools are named for the astronaut,
and the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum opened in Wapokeneta in
1972.
Armstrong, who has been married twice, has two grown children and
now lives on a farm in Lebanon, Ohio.
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