This obituary would probably be more appropriate at Futures Past and Present, but this blog currently gets way more traffic.  Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon, has passed away due to complications from recent bypass surgery.  The news broke only minutes ago as I write this, so I don’t have any links with more detail.

Armstrong was a true hero, not just to Americans, but people worldwide.  I don’t remember the Apollo 11 landing, although I remember the followup missions in the early 70s.  They cemented in my mind the idea that space travel was part of the way things are.  Unfortunately, things have changed.

To many of my generation Armstrong embodied the values that took us into space:  courage, investigation, imagination, exploration.  Values that built this country.  While we as a society don’t seem to place as much importance on these characteristics as we once did, I maintain that they are essential to our future and the survival of our culture and civilization.  I hope that as we mourn the passing of a true pioneer, we remember these things.  It’s only by embracing these traits, traits that Neil Armstrong embodied, that we can build a better world.

Rest in peace, Neil.