The End of the Beginning

Neil Armstrong has left us.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden:

On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of the Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own.

Besides being one of America's greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation.

As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero.

I watched the landing on our family's big black-and-white TV. I could barely make visual sense of the grainy images, but I understood what was going on. The event set a high expectation for the future, one that the following years would only disappoint.

But he did it. Whatever follows - whether in a year or a generation or a century - will follow in his famous footsteps.