SECOND COMES RIGHT AFTER FIRST: Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, has died at the age of 82.
Plenty of ink will be spilled about Armstrong's incredible career as a fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut, engineering professor and private citizen. I can't do that on short notice and probably not as well.
But I can say this: it is almost certain that no name from the 20th century is apt to last longer that Neil Armstrong. Whether we ever become -- as I ardently hope we do -- a spacefaring species spreading out among the stars, or slip back down into medieval destitution, in the longest term, what Armstrong did on July 20, 1969 will remain the most important symbol of human achievement in the 20th century and probably the second millenium.
Good Luck, Mr. Armstrong. Ad Astra and Goodbye.
ETA: Here's exactly the sort of remembrance I knew I wasn't going to top.
