On the passing of Neil Armstrong

I woke up on my birthday and went to read the news. Those that know me well, know that I love space and science fiction.

When I learned that Neil Armstrong had died, my first thought was not sadness but that he was old. After all people die; even the great ones and the heros. My second thought was that of the men who walked on the moon, only 8 remain.

Buzz Aldrin (11), Al Bean (12), Edgar Mitchell (14), David Scott (15), John Young (16), Charles Duke (16), Gene Cernan (17), & Jack Schmitt (17).

Of all the crews that flew on Apollo only the crews of 8, 9, 10, and 16 are all still with us.

My birthday wish: Before all these men and the people who supported them leave us, we should be back in deep space. I would hope that before Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt die (last men to walk on the moon) that we land humans back on the Moon or on Mars.

Neil Armstrong will always be remembered for Apollo 11 but we must remember he was also the commander of the first in-space emergency; Gemini 8. He and David Scott started spinning uncontrollably due to a stuck thruster and almost died in space. They made an emergency landing and were saved.

It was the Gemini program that helped us get to the moon and do the amazing tasks we did up there. It was missions like Gemini 8 that made NASA what it became. These men were trained to test new spacecraft and push us further. We don't test spacecrafts anymore. We just fly the same stuff over and over.

We need a new Gemini program to not just prepare for getting back to the Moon and go on to Mars, we need one that pushes speed and technology boundaries.

• Fly faster
• Get places quicker
• Advanced navigation systems
• Highly efficient environmental systems
• New Communication systems

The Presidential candidates will not talk about space policy as it was thrown under the bus with the fall of the Soviet Union. They will mention Armstrong but not what he really did as part of the greatest and bravest group of men ever to walk this earth. The men who flew on Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Vostok and Voskod all took risks in the interest of technology. They all were proud of their nations but saw what they were doing as part of the bigger mission of human kind; to learn, explore and become better humans.

We shouldn't go to space because of a competition, we do it because it's in our nature to push ourselves to go farther, be better, learn and discover.

That one small step for a Neil was a great leap for mankind but sadly we have stopped walking.

I am 36 today. I want to see humans back on the Moon and on the surface of Mars. This is what I want for my birthday.