Winking at the moon

If there was an icon of human potential in my childhood then I guess it was two things: the Saturn V rocket and Commander Neil Armstrong.
I'm old enough to have seen the fuzzy, barely legible black & white broadcasts of the Apollo program, and to have stared in wonder at those first footsteps on the moon.
The Apollo 11 mission and Armstrong's giant leap for mankind made you believe that the world could be about the art of the possible.
Armstrong literally had the world at his feet. Yet the true mark of the man was that even though his 'first' was something no one else could ever repeat, he never exploited it personally.
Only as an advocate of scientific research and exploration did he ever speak out.
The news that he's died at 82 has a real poignancy to it, partly because it feels like a piece of my childhood has gone, but also because we're still waiting for the next big thing in terms of human space travel.
The message his family put out is a perfect tribute to a great yet modest man:
"For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."
I can't see the moon right now but the next time it's out we should all remember July 1969.