On August 25, 2012, Neil Armstrong died at the age of 82.
Forty-three years earlier, he had done something no human being had ever done.
He stepped onto another world.
It is easy now to let that fact become ordinary. We have seen the photographs too many times. The flag. The footprints. The pale horizon. Earth hanging impossibly small in the blackness.
But nothing about Apollo 11 was ordinary.
The computer that guided Armstrong toward the lunar surface possessed a fraction of the computing power we carry. The landing site was rougher than expected. Fuel was disappearing. Armstrong took partial manual control and flew the Lunar Module Eagle beyond a field of boulders, searching for a landing.
When he landed, they had little fuel to spare.
Then came the words:
“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
And hours later, the step.
What has always struck me about Armstrong is the distance between the magnitude of what he accomplished and the modesty he embodied.
He was a Midwestern boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio. He earned his pilot’s license before a driver’s license. He flew combat missions over Korea, became a test pilot, joined the astronaut corps, and eventually found himself on the moon.
Yet he resisted becoming larger than this achievement.
Armstrong seemed to understand that Apollo 11 was not really the story of one man. Behind those first footprints stood hundreds of thousands of people: engineers, mathematicians, machinists, seamstresses, technicians, scientists, pilots and dreamers.
Behind them stood a country willing to attempt something whose outcome was far from certain. Behind this stood a civilization that had better itself and beat back the darkness that sought to crush it.
Perhaps that is why the moon landing still matters. Great things begin as unreasonable endeavors.
“Unswerving Verve” was originally published in Red, White & Verse.
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published
Unswerving Verve As the dawn of the Space Age unfurled, Gazes shifted from Earth to the cosmic swirl. America, in her relentless stride, Channeled her pioneering soul to reach the other side. A boy, Neil, cradled by Midwest tender corn, In earthly plains born, for cosmic paths sworn. Armstrong, a name now written in stardust’s gleam, Embodied human curiosity, and the explorer’s dream. Before he could drive on ground, he yearned to fly, His boyish hands steering through the open sky. With a steadfast heart and an aviator’s yearning, To the cosmos, he was ever turning. In the cauldron of the Korean War, he sailed the skies, Across seventy-eight missions, his spirit never compromised. From the tumult of battle, emerged a hero unsung, His destiny with NASA, in celestial spheres, had just begun. On July’s twentieth day, 1969, A humble man left an earthly trace on the lunar line. Stepping lightly onto the moon’s barren stage, Armstrong echoed through eternity, a new age. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” His words resounded, the testament of human mind, With Aldrin and Collins, his celestial brothers, Their triumphant voyage mirrored in the eyes of others. His deeds were honored, the highest medal adorned, Yet, fame was not his quest, humility he wore. An everyday man, who touched the infinite, Found peace in seclusion, in the starlight, he’d sit. On an August day, in 2012, Armstrong bid the world his last farewell, Leaving a legacy that stretched beyond his years, A testament to courage, triumphing over fears. From the fertile heartland to the celestial void, In Armstrong’s footsteps, a nation’s spirit buoyed. No peak too high, no gulf too deep to dare, The moon’s pale glow whispers, “If you dream, you’re halfway there.” Legacy enshrined in the moon’s eternal light, America’s triumph in the still and silent night. With resolve as infinite as the star-strewn dome, Proclaims in unity, “Through courage, we have found a greater home.” Where once the moon hung in unreachable mystique, Now it stands as testament to the power of the meek. A beacon that in our striving, our yearning to be free, We’ve claimed a cosmic victory for all of humanity. In this grand endeavor, a lesson to uphold, A tale of humble beginnings, yet courage untold. The moon landing’s echo through decades has spun, A reminder that together, there’s nothing we can’t overcome.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.