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RIP Neil Armstrong

HidingFromGoro.

Posted to Scoop on Sat Aug 25, 2012 at 04:22:55 PM EST (promoted from Diaries by gerrymander). RSS.

The legendary astronaut was 82.

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1

Re: RIP Neil Armstrong

Haggis.

Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 12:29:23 PM EST

5.00 (agreed, astute, brilliant)

The passing of an authentic American hero should not go unnoticed.  July 20th should be made a national holiday to memorialize a truly epic accomplishment for all humankind.  In my opinion, they could take Columbus Day or MLK Day off the holiday roster.  If that makes me racist or an Italian hating dude, so be it.  Also, NASA's budget should be bumped up to the point where we commit to making a manned Mars mission by the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing.

I am shitfitter; hear me roar.

2

The Final Indignity

Gaius Petronius.

Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 03:38:23 PM EST

5.00 (informative)

3

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Re: The Final Indignity

Shy Elf.

Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 07:09:45 PM EST

none

Either he flubbed his line, or a radio dropout dropped the article by itself.  In any case, the line makes no sense as usually quoted, which makes it all the more odd that we've been praising it that way for so long.

4

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Sweet Mare Tranquillitatis

gerrymander.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 01:01:33 AM EST

5.00 (funny)

Lunar man don't need him 'round anyhow.

5

^ 4

Re: Sweet Mare Tranquillitatis

Haggis.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 06:56:33 AM EST

5.00 (funny)

FREEBIRD!!!

I am shitfitter; hear me roar.

6

^ 2

Re: The Final Indignity

zyxwvutsr.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 09:13:31 AM EST

5.00 (astute)

That such a mistake was made tells us something about Neil Armstrong. In these days when unearned fame seems de rigueur, we sometimes need reminding that the most objectively impressive people - men and women who accomplish things that are astonishing and historic - did not do these things because they were seeking fame. At the time of the first moon landing Neil Armstrong was arguably the most famous person alive, but upon returning to Earth he casually (and by most accounts, characteristically) allowed that fame to fade.

7

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Song of the Infinite Improbability Drive

natophonic.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 02:04:10 PM EST

none

Armstrong's heyday had supermarket tabloids and soap operas on TV, while today we have gossip blogs and reality TV. How far have we fallen, if at all?

Part of what I find compelling about The Right Stuff is that, if the storytelling is to be believed, some of the Mercury crew were seeking fame, some were doing it for 'bigger' reasons, and at least one avoided the program because being shot in a tin can on top of a missile was a monkey's job, not a pilot's. But in the end, they all end up realizing that what they were doing was astonishing and historic.
 

9

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Re: Song of the Infinite Improbability Drive

zyxwvutsr.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 06:43:22 PM EST

none

...being shot in a tin can on top of a missile was a monkey's job, not a pilot's
I don't think it was coincidence that the one of the fame-seekers did not end up being the first man on the moon. See urkel's blockquote below: Armstrong was not merely a "pilot," he was an engineer who loved to fly.

8

Re: RIP Neil Armstrong

Ephraim Gadsby.

Mon Aug 27, 2012 at 03:25:45 PM EST

5.00 (informative)

Charles Murray writes:

Jerry [Bostick, who ran the Flight Dynamics branch during Apollo] began to reminisce about Gemini 8, Neil Armstrong's previous space flight. Armstrong and his copilot, David Scott, had rendezvoused and docked with an Agena rocket as part of the rehearsal for techniques that would have to be used on the lunar mission. The combined vehicles had started to roll, so they undocked. But once it was on its own, the Gemini spacecraft started to roll even faster. Unbeknownst to the crew, one of the Gemini's thrusters had locked on. The roll increased to one revolution per second.

I had known all this, but hadn't thought much about it. And if you watch NASA's version on You Tube, it is all made to sound as if the roll was a brief problem, never rising to the level of a crisis.

Actually, it was a moment that would have reduced me, and some extremely large proportion of the human race, to gibbering helplessness, no matter how well we were trained.

Imagine an amusement park ride that sits you in a pod, and that pod is twirled sideways at one revolution per second (you've never actually been on an amusement park ride remotely approaching that level of disorientation, because it would be prohibited). You have a panel in front of you with dozens of dials and small toggle switches, and you are supposed to toggle those switches in a prescribed sequence. While spinning one revolution per second. Pretty hard, trying to focus your eyes on those dials and coordinate your finger movement under those g forces so that you can even touch a switch that you're aiming for. Now imagine that the sequence is not prescribed, but instead that there are many permutations, and you're supposed to decide which permutation to do next based on what happened with the last one. Heavy cognitive demand there--long-term memory from training, short-term memory, induction, deduction. While spinning at one revolution per second. And now, to top it all off, if you don't do it right, REALLY fast, you're going to lose consciousness and die.

Jerry Bostick mused, "So there's Neil, calmly toggling these little banana switches, moving through the alternatives, until he figures it out." He shook his head in wonderment. "I'm not sure that any of our other pilots, and we had some great ones, could have analyzed the situation and solved it as quickly as he did."

10

Another Planet Weighs In

Gaius Petronius.

Tue Aug 28, 2012 at 10:55:29 AM EST

none

An interesting compilation of Moon Truthers' comments on the death of Armstrong, courtesy of Gawker. I had no idea the Masons were involved.

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Re: Another Planet Weighs In

thefadd.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 at 10:56:44 PM EST

none

You had no idea the Masons were involved? When are the Masons not involved? Everyone who's ever been in space was at least a 32nd degree mason.

I HAD HAD SEX WITH HUNTER S THOMPSON. HE CAME IN MY MOUTH AND I SWALLOWED IT. I SHOULD HAVE HAD HIS BABY. WE WOULD BE BALLIN' LIKE KOBE'S SON!!

12

To Paraphrase A Certain President

thefadd.

Sat Sep 01, 2012 at 10:57:30 PM EST

5.00 (agreed)

It's not like he built the rocket by himself.

I HAD HAD SEX WITH HUNTER S THOMPSON. HE CAME IN MY MOUTH AND I SWALLOWED IT. I SHOULD HAVE HAD HIS BABY. WE WOULD BE BALLIN' LIKE KOBE'S SON!!

13

Re: RIP Neil Armstrong

harada.

Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 12:55:00 PM EST

none

This is one of the best post I've ever seen, you can include some more ideas in the same theme. I'm still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in the next post. One thing I just want to say is that your blog is so perfect!

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