Give Armstrong a wink!

PHOTO: AFP/NASA

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died on 25 August 2012 at the age of 82. He walked on the Moon on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as “one small step for [a] man, one giant step for mankind.”
We have learnt that Armstrong was a modest man and taciturn in nature. In a rare television interview in 2005, he said he did not deserve the attention he received for being the first man on the moon, just steps ahead of fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. He also added, “I wasn't chosen to be first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role.”
However, with the Russians already sending men into space, US President John F. Kennedy had promised in 1961 to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The Americans were determined to fulfil this pledge. And particularly it is Armstrong and his team who fulfilled Kennedy's promise within that decade.
The great achievement of Armstrong inspired generations to reach for the stars and etched his name next to one of the great milestones of human discovery.
We pay profound tributes to this great and humble US astronaut. In this context, I reproduce a request drawn by his family: “Honour his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”