Dan Goldin on Neil Armstrong, Who "Saved the Soul of America"
On the day when Neil Armstrong is being honored at a private memorial service, former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin praises him as a man whose achievement in walking on the Moon in 1969 “save the soul of America.”
In an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, Goldin, who rarely speaks publicly about NASA since he left the agency in 2001, extols Armstrong as “the symbol of all that was good about America on July 20, 1969, his courageous feat representing one of the greatest triumphs ever achieved.”
Goldin goes on to write eloquently about how the Apollo 11 landing affected the future. He ends by talking about how he witnessed the Mars Curiosity landing and “I knew that NASA still had the right stuff. NASA is filled with future Neil Armstrongs…. I can think of no greater testimony to the entire Apollo team than to undertake another audacious activity that, although risky, will raise the American spirit and create opportunities for future generations. … We must reach for the stars.”
Armstrong died on Saturday at the age of 82 from complications following heart surgery.
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