Saturday, August 25, 2012

Saturday Video: R.I.P. Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

by Salman Hameed


I just heard that Neil Armstrong passed away. Here is a part of the footage of his famous phrase, "One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind".


You can also check out the front page of the New York Times from July 21, 1969. Here is a collage of Walter Cronkite's coverage of Moon landing:


Farewell, Neil Armstrong.

6 comments:

Asad M said...

seems like he came to Pakistan too during a tour of South Asia and received quite a welcome at Karach, see the photo in this article:

http://dawn.com/2012/08/09/also-pakistan-iv/

Salman Hameed said...

Thanks Asad - I didn't know about that.

Anonymous said...

Is it true Neil Armstrong became a Muslim?

Salman Hameed said...

"Is it true Neil Armstrong became a Muslim?"

Anon: Hmm..No. This is a fascinating rumor that has been circulating in many of the Muslim countries since the 70s. There are multiple stories of his conversion. One of my students did an excellent senior thesis on this and looked at the reasons for such a story.

But just for the record, Armstrong several times addressed this issue and said that no - he never became Muslim. He also talks about it in his 2005 biography, First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Salman for the answer.
Must be interesting for the guy who did the thesis on the story.

Well, so Armstrong did not become a Muslim.
But did he hear the Azan on the moon? I heard that he did admit hearing it. I have not personally heard him say that. Not that I have heard much from Armstrong about anything.

Salman Hameed said...

"But did he hear the Azan on the moon?"

Nope. There is no truth to that statement either. In fact, it is this myth tied to the view that Neil Armstrong became a Muslim. However, neither of the statements is true, and he had to say that on many occasions.

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