• Question: Do you believe that Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon or would you consider this title to be shared with Buzz Aldrin?

    Asked by murphdawg to Niamh, Ned, Laurence, Colin, Aisling on 1 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Niamh Shaw

      Niamh Shaw answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      Thats a really good question. Because firstly, Neil armstrong got to land on the moon because thousands of people worked together to build the Apollo space craft that got him there (along with Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins), to calculate the amount of fuel they would need for the round trip journey and all their meals, what route they would take as well as figuring out any possible accidents that might happen and what they would need to do in case of emergency. It is estimated that up to 15,000 people helped Neil, Buzz and Michael get to the moon. Now when you think about all that, the fact the Neil was the first man to place his foot on the moon, he could only do this because there were 15,000 other people back in Earth who made that possible. So I always think thats its a shared achievement. However, if you’re talking just plain facts, then he was indeed the first man to physically plant his food first on the moon. and this was a decision that was made by NASA long before they ever left Earth- Buzz and Michael would have know this long before take-off. I was lucky to meet Buzz and Neils sons last summer (Andy Andrin & Eric Armstrong) and thats what they told me too.

    • Photo: Colin Shirran

      Colin Shirran answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      I really like Niamh’s perspective on this and I do agree that the landing was an overall achievement between thousands of people. My perspective is that I would consider the title is shared between the two since they both physically landed on the moon at the same time in the same spacecraft. However, Neil was without a doubt the first person to set their foot on the moon. I’m sure that between them both (or even three including Michael Collins who had to orbit the Moon on his own while they were down there!) they felt that they all collectively were the first people on the Moon.

    • Photo: Ned Dwyer

      Ned Dwyer answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      Well, I guess someone had to be the first down the steps, and it happened to be Neil, however without the help of a huge team of people, he would have never got there, so although he is the representative and the one we all remember, we should not forget that it was a team effort

    • Photo: Laurence O'Rourke

      Laurence O'Rourke answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      I think as the lunar capsule containing both Neil and Buzz landed on the moon then both of them got the title 🙂 The first one to stand physically on the moon was Neil but strangely enough, unlike the majority of things in life where the first person gets remembered and the second not, here Buzz also got remembered too – which shows how great an achievement it was. An achievement which could only be possible because of so many people on Earth working together.

    • Photo: Aisling Shannon

      Aisling Shannon answered on 2 Mar 2016:

      I guess you could think of them like a relay team, each with their own role, Neil did the first leg and Buzz did the last… Everyone’s a winner 🙂

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