Watch a Tribute to Astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

 

Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) during an Apollo mission. (NASA)

As you can imagine, the news of the passing of Neil Armstrong affected us deeply at Science Channel, so we felt it appropriate to change our regularly scheduled progrmaming to air both favorite and new shows honoring his memory, including When We Left Earth, a comprehensive look back at the Apollo missions and others with stunning restored footage.

When Neil Armstrong left the Earth's atmosphere on July 16, 1969 on his way to the moon 250,000 miles away, he had more than proved himself to have the right stuff to be given the honor, and superhuman feat of being the first person to walk on the moon.

 

A fully-fledged navy aviator by age 20, he flew over 70 combat missions in Korea, then became a well-respected and dependable test pilot due to his coolness under pressure and technical abilities. To add to his intellectual grasp of the machines he mastered and the extreme physical requirements demanded of test pilots and astronauts Armstrong apparently had no ego. There could not have been a better American, nor for that matter, human, to reach what had been up until his arrival the otherworldly and unattainable prize of the moon.

We assembled a video collection of footage from the Apollo 11 mission, both from space and from Earth, as well as video from earlier NASA missions that led up to that giant leap. You can also watch footage from later Apollo moon missions such as Apollo 13 and 17.

We also have photos of the Apollo missions. And Discovery News has a touching rememberance of Neil Armstrong from British writer, Mark Thompson.

Sadly only three years after President Obama received the three crew members to honor them on the 40^th Anniversary of the moon walk the White House announced that flags are to fly at half mast during Armstrong’s interment.

To learn more about the moon and man’s effort to understand it, check out our Moon Video Playlist.

Share your thoughts with other fellow Earth-dwellers on our Facebook post.

Explore Special Programming on Science Channel:

Friday Aug 31^st

9am-5pm- The Planets (8x60)

Where did the planets come from and how were they formed? Clues to the birth and evolution of the planets lie scattered throughout the solar system. Distance, time, and technology handicap the search for answers, but scientists are making progress.

 

5p-11p- Moon Machines (6x60)

Forty years on from mankind's first steps on the lunar surface, reaching the Moon is still a metaphor for an impossible journey. In just eight years 400,000 people across America came together to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. But whilst the astronauts who walked on the Moon became household names, the men and women who created the machines that made their journeys possible have been largely forgotten. Yet, from the impossibly gigantic Saturn V rocket to the fragile ?tissue paper? lunar lander, the stories of these miracles of engineering are every bit as extraordinary as those of the men who flew them.

 

Saturday Sept 1st

8-10pm- In the Shadow of the Moon (1x120)

In The Shadow Of The Moon vividly depicts the daring and the danger, the pride and the passion of an extraordinary era in American history. Between 1968 and 1972, the world watched in awe as American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon. Only 12 American men walked upon its surface and they remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. In The Shadow Of The Moon combines archival material from the original NASA film footage and interviews with the surviving astronauts to tell the story of one of mankind's greatest achievements.

 

10pm- One Giant Leap: A Neil Armstrong Tribute, (wt)  (NETWORK PREMIER)

This one-hour original documentary showcases the tremendous impact Neil Armstrong made on the world and his legacy to space exploration.  Told through poignant, personal interviews with Armstrong, it will also include archived Apollo footage discovered in 2006 that may be televised for the first time as well as interviews with his Apollo 11 crew mates conducted following Armstrong’s death and their perspective on the future of manned space missions.   

 

Wednesday September 5^th

5p-11p When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (6x60)

Each episode will focus around a single mission, and in the telling of that core story. We bring all the other related areas to embellish and enrich the narrative and also to place it in the bigger context of the history of NASA itself.

Comments

[Michael Richard]

Thank you so much for putting this all together.. I can't wait for all the shows! They are not showing on my cable guide yet, but hopefully the cable company updates the the guide so that I don't miss any of it.

[Carmen Ferreiro]

A fitting tribute for a truly special American hero. Godspeed to our beloved Apollo 11 Commander.

[Dave Shriner]

Now that's what I call excellent programming. I could watch this stuff every day. Thank you so much...

[Scott Smullin]

Thank you for this programming I plan to watch as much of it as I can. It will be an inspiring tribute to a true American hero. Mr. Armstrong was at heart an engineer who inspired me to become an engineer and dream big. I hope this programming motivates younger generations to follow in his footsteps by studying engineering and science and its application to future endeavours we can only theorize about now.

[Ellen]

I just watched a few hours of "Moon Machines" and even though I grew up slightly after the moon missions, I never knew any of this stuff. The hour on spacesuits was the best! Thank you for this programming!

[Rita]

I just watched the tribute to Neil Armstrong and was disappointed with the presentation, largely due to your choice of hosts. The style of presentation, mostly the tone, was equal to that of an entertainment channel reviewing the upcoming summer movies, not at all befitting to such historical material.

You forgot who your audience was - mostly "babyboomers" and the "greatest generation" who witnessed the Apollo era. A presentation style closer to Mr. Cronkite or Mr. Brokaw would have been more appropriate.

Moon Machines, In the Shadow of the Moon, and When We Left Earth are excellent programs. All generations, young and old, are glued to them when they air because they are informative and clearly the best presentation of space program history.

[Sharon Bading]

I agree with above comment. The show was more like an entertainment show than a tribute. Neil Armstrong certainly deserved a more dignified show.

[sandiegoprint]

Neil Armstrong was a true American icon. He was humble, had an amazing dream--of going to the moon--and worked extremely hard to actually achieve it. And in so doing, he changed the world in a positive and enduring way. If only "celebrities" today were more like him...