They say that where you stand (on an issue) depends on where you sit. Although a few prominent people will widely be considered exceptional by everyone, most others will be so considered only by a select group of people. These are pretty vague notions. I think the original astronauts and the best songwriters are all noteworthy.
Well…maybe. The issues that plagued Apollo 11 during their landing had not been seen before, nor were they fully understood. Mysterious computer alarms going off unexpectedly? Missing the landing point because of an orbital anomaly and therefore having to land manually?
Even among astronauts, Neil Armstrong was known for keeping his cool and getting the job done despite such terrifying surprises. So…if it wasn’t Neil Armstrong, and these same problems cropped up on the first landing attempt, perhaps the crew would have aborted, and maybe we would have never actually landed on the moon.
All of the astronauts had/have “the right stuff” and are heroic.
The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo project astronauts were especially heroic.
Those astronauts chosen for missions were/are the best of the best and should be considered national heroes.
The elite few chosen for critical missions (e.g. John Glenn, Neil Armstrong…) should be considered national heroes and treasures, IMHO.
I was a senior in high school (well, the summer after senior year) when the moon landing happened. I think my parents had the TV on, but I didn’t watch it. It was a biggish deal, but I wasn’t all that excited. By the time it happened, it seemed nearly inevitable that it felt rather ho hum.
I watched The Right Stuff, and I enjoyed it, but I was never a hero-worshipper of astronauts. I never really hero-worshipped anybody. The astronauts as people seemed like cardboard cut-outs of the All American hero type. I know that’s the image NASA wanted, but it was off-putting to me.
Bob Costas is related to Marilu Henner? I couldn’t read more than a few paragraphs without having to subscribe – which I have no desire to do.
Funny, it didn’t ask me for anything.
Here’s the story, in brief. When Bob Costas had his talk show, Later, he interviewed Marilu Henner about her gift of hyperthymesia - her highly advanced ability to remember every day of her life in great detail. Costas picked out a few random dates, and Henner recalled where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, what clothes she wore, etc. However, when he asked what she was doing on July 20, 1969, she was completely flustered. It turns out that was the night she lost her virginity - not watching the Moon landing.
Ah. Good story!