The moon & Osiris

Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot upon an extra-terrestrial planet, will have had no problem passing Osiris on his way to the afterlife. If anyone lived an upright life in the service of truth and humility, leading to a heart that outweighed by a feather upon its completion, it was Armstrong. He died Saturday at age 82.

You can read all about his life, about his career as a Gemini and Apollo astronaut and about the 1969 moon mission pretty much anywhere you like. But here’s what struck me about him.

After that walk, Armstrong could have raked in squillions in product endorsements, speaking fees, or high political office. I bet they were flinging checks, cars, airline tickets, hot and cold running hookers, and everything else you could imagine at him in hopes they could slap his name on a billboard and generate cashflow.

Didn’t matter to him. He had job responsibilities with NASA, and he carried them out.

Then he taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Later he did take some gigs as spokesman (for Chrysler and a couple of others), and he did serve on some corporate boards. But he didn’t convert his NASA achievements to a massive fortune.

In today’s crass and greedy environment, that just seems stunning.

But here’s a quote from him that I believe sums up Armstrong’s life. He’d been asked to share his thoughts in the moments after he stepped out of the lunar lander. What deep insights had come to him?

“We weren’t there to meditate, we were there to get things done,” he replied.

No, Osiris won’t spend a great deal of time considering Armstrong’s heart.