I'm not quite sure how this has got to selection of heroes.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon.
Buzz Aldrin was the second.
Michael Collins waited in the command module.

I remember this vividly as I watched it unfold.
They were the first team.

Five other teams followed. I can remember the names of a few.
It had been done already, so what? Even though their efforts were no less outstanding.

Hillary and Tensing climbed Everest first (OK they could have been beaten to it, but it is unconfirmed). So we remember them.
Who cares or remembers who did it next? Even though conditions may have been worse and the feat superior.

And that's how it goes.
None of these are necessarily my heroes, but I will remember them. They will go down in history.

We don't 'choose' heroes anyway, it just happens. Some connection happens, and it's not just a question of admiration.

I apparently watched the Apollo 11 landing aged 1 and a bit. Can't say I remember much.

I do remember clearly believing as a child that we'd have moon colonies and human landings on Mars way before now. As it is, no human has even gone to the moon for 40 years. The space shuttle always seemed a bit naff in comparison to Apollo - the sheer bravado and utter commitment by the US was mind-boggling in comparison to so much that has followed.

The other thing about the US astronauts of that era is that whilst they were great pilots, they were also very smart individuals - many of them having science degrees to Masters levels (especially those on the later Apollo flights who were trying to make themselves more attractive for flight selection). They were by no means the 'jocks' they are sometimes portrayed as (that was more the slightly earlier era of test pilots like Chuck Yeager).

The other thing that strikes me is just how brave these guys were. The more you learn about the Apollo program, the more you understand just what was involved, the scarier it becomes. Just re-entry into Earth's atmosphere seems almost impossible; aim the floor of the craft at the atmosphere, and basically start to burn up like a meteorite to slow down a craft with no brakes and almost no controls, hurtling in from space and essentially just falling straight out of the sky.

Or on the Moon itself, no fuel to spare, and just one single chance that the take-off engine would ignite, take off and burn properly, with no backup.

I don't know how they picked the coolest men but Armstrong took manual control when the guidance computer overloaded and landed the Eagle by hand, with about 10 seconds fuel left. Then of course you had the matter-of-fact supercool of the Apollo 13 crew, when they were millimetres away from certain death but reacted as if they were in a car that had just developed a misfire.

I was always just in awe of the astronauts, and still am.

That pretty much sums up my thinking and saves me the job.
There again Apollo 13, who can remember all the crew?
I know Tom Hanks was one of them.

I was also very impressed at how the Yanks had beaten those nasty Russians to the punch.

No need to flight about it.

you silly Fokker !

I don't like the way this thread is boeing. It was pretty sensible aileron.

He isn't. Looks like it, but actually it's just an Ilyushin.

well, 'comet the hour, comet the man' ...


and why is it called a 'cockpit' ? what if the pilot is a lady ?

If you messerschmitt it in comparison with other threads I don't think it's doing to bad?

My German isn't great, but doesn't 'Messerschmitt' just mean 'Mr Smith'?

No. A knife is a messer, and a reasonable equivalent would by "Cutler".

You think? Personally, howitzer got this far beats me.

Reminds me of a long joke that ended with............

'I think the Fokker was a Messerscmitt, Squadron Leader'

I can't think of anything witty..........sorry !!!