Why do people revere Neil Armstrong, he merely went for a ride?

Question

Why does that entitle him to the level of respect he is afforded?

Answer 1

It wasn't just "a ride," as I'm sure you're aware it's a very dangerous thing to do. If you don't believe that, then ask the widows of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. However, more importantly, you have to remember the time in which the Mercury Seven existed, and the origins of the space program. America was involved in a bitter economic battle with the USSR. You may have heard of it, a little thing called "The Cold War." At any rate, what Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts did became a symbol for something greater than just landing on the moon. Our space program was created as a direct counter to Russian technology. At the time, we had to beat them at everything they did...we wanted to do it better, faster, and with more glory. So, it's what Neil Armstrong represents, rather than what he did, that's revered.

Answer 2

Neil Armstrong merely went for a ride in much the same way Benjamin Franklin merely flew a kite or Rosa Parks merely committed a misdemeanor or Thomas Watson (A.G. Bell's assistant, not the IBM guy) merely answered a phone call from his boss. Remember that it took perfect health and fitness and serious guts to be an astronaut (the Apollo 1 crew had died in a horrible fire just 2 years before without ever leaving the launch pad and the things that could go wrong once blasting off were pretty much limitless), and then there's the fact he didn't just go for a ride, he "got out and took a walk". The moon is the one thing that every single one of the billions of sited humans have shared since the first human- it's the same moon mentioned in Gilgamesh 5000 years ago, it's the moon that Ramses II and King David and Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar and so on and so on up to Napoleon and Lincoln and JFK all looked at and contemplated at some point in their lives, the one that people in concentration camps wrote poems about and that ancient Syrians built temples to and that Incan peasants believed caused silver with her tears and that slaves and masters and billionaires and peasants had all stood under the light of, the one thing that you and all of your ancestors and people you've never met in countries you've never been to in villages you'll never hear of have all actually seen. Armstrong was the first to actually stand on it. Successfully. And come back.

It's true that the thousands of others responsible for the success of his mission deserve more credit than they get, but don't sell Armstrong short.

Answer 3

In part, the answer would be the same to the question, "Why do people revere Andy Warhol, he merely painted a can of soup?" People admire/revere other people who do things first. That's why an original Warhol is valuable, and a hand done reproduction, however well wrought, is not.

But that's only a small part of the answer here. The other entries have detailed the scientific, cultural and political importance of Armstrong's feat, along with the fact that it was incredibly dangerous.

I do take issue with the suggestion that he was simply in the right place at the right time to be chosen as the first man to step foot on the moon. He earned that right! Check out his credentials, his degree(s), his training as a pilot and test pilot, etc, etc. We should all be so "lucky".

Answer 4

Because, Neil Armstrong was the first to actually set foot an an extraterrestrial world. That's something special, even if it is not heroic. And, true, if it wasn't him, it would have been anybody else. But, by luck and chance it was him, and what he did was special and is something (being the first to set foot on an alien world) that no one else will ever do in the history of mankind.

And, while I'm on the subject...

Why are firemen, policemen, and soldiers revered as heroes merely for being firemen, policemen, and soldiers - even the ones who have never done anything heroic? I was a soldier and, believe me, there is nothing heroic about just doing your job every day. Let's reserve the hero status for those who truly go above and beyond.
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Answer 5

It was not a mere ride. You need a very high level of endurance to take such a mission. There is uncertainty of life and death involved. He put his at risk and endured all what is needed just for the mankind Today we all humans world over are proud of our times that we achieved such a great thing. So he deserves all what we are giving him.

Answer 6

He is the symbol for American success with NASA in a time when America was losing in Vietnam, had Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King shot.

Answer 7

It still took a lot of courage to be the first man to step into the unknown

Answer 8

Because he went not knowing if he could get back, and because it is a ride that we will never go on.

Answer 9

You might want to go to the NASA website and review all the NASA tragedies. The man risked his life for science. He is an American hero.