Neil Armstrong doesn’t make many public appearances, but when he does, they’re invariably in keeping with the demeanor of a national hero. I was fortunate enough to see him speak at the USC commencement a couple years ago, and he gave a great speech, that wasn’t about him, but was about the graduates and their future.

According to this story, he was also recently an inspiration to some kids in Israel:

Asked what lasting value the flights to the moon had, Armstrong responded they showed that “the human species, all of us, is not forever chained to the planet Earth.” He added, “I hope that man continues to expand his and her presence in space in the years ahead.”

Armstrong had advice for youngsters who want to be an astronaut one day: “That requires getting a very good education, particularly in the fields of science and mathematics.”

Israel’s only astronaut to take part in a space flight, Col. Ilan Ramon, was killed in the disintegration of the Columbia space shuttle on Feb. 1, 2003, along with the other six crew members. But Armstrong had only warm words about space travel.

“How does it feel to be inside a space ship?” a small girl asked him. With a huge smile, Armstrong replied, “You would like it.”

Asked if he would take a second chance to go back to the moon today, Armstrong jumped to his feet and said, “Of course,” and embracing the questioner, a teenage boy, asking him if he would like to come along.

Armstrong left Israel Tuesday evening without talking to reporters.

Smart move.

Dan Schmelzer provides a little tour of Wallops Island and its environs, with pictures.

I’ve never been there, and found this interesting:

As you may know, SpaceX and NASA are in preliminary discussions for the Falcon 9 to launch from Wallops for International Space Station servicing missions. After visiting the area around the spaceport, it strikes me that the rocket is large for launching as close as a couple miles from inhabited areas. I do not think that Wallops has launched a rocket even close to the size of the Falcon 9. Also, the infrastructure in the surrounding area — such as roads and railroads — don’t appear to be suitable for large rockets. I guess SpaceX would have to barge its rockets in. But if SpaceX does launch from Wallops, it would be quite a sight to see.

I wonder if they’ve done the quantity-distance calculation? While politically, it makes a lot of sense to use Wallops (it gives Senators Mikulski and House Majority Leader Hoyer reason to support it), the FAA may not allow them to do it if it’s too close to populated areas. We’ll see what happens with the launch license application.

I also wonder if the local residents know what they’re in for acoustically, since they’re used to much smaller rockets.

Ferris Valyn has a new set of links up, with an extensive discussion on whether or not so-called liberals are opposed to space expenditures. I think that it’s a pointless argument. Both support of, and opposition to, space spending (and government space spending) are bi-partisan (or rather, non-partisan). Both “liberals” and “conservatives” can have reasons to go either way. Of course, it’s silly to oppose VSE simply because George Bush proposed it, but many otherwise sensible people (at least on space issues) seem to do so.

While reading Michael Belfiore’s new book this weekend, I was struck by Brian Binnie’s description of his X-Prize winning flight. Well, Jeff Foust has a report on a speech that Brian gave this past weekend, on what an amazing experience it will be. And if you can’t oversell it, it makes it a double shame that Rocketplane may not be able to sell it at all.

While reading Michael Belfiore’s new book this weekend, I was struck by Brian Binnie’s description of his X-Prize winning flight. Well, Jeff Foust has a report on a speech that Brian gave this past weekend, on what an amazing experience it will be. And if you can’t oversell it, it makes it a double shame that Rocketplane may not be able to sell it at all.

While reading Michael Belfiore’s new book this weekend, I was struck by Brian Binnie’s description of his X-Prize winning flight. Well, Jeff Foust has a report on a speech that Brian gave this past weekend, on what an amazing experience it will be. And if you can’t oversell it, it makes it a double shame that Rocketplane may not be able to sell it at all.

Thomas James has a link roundup.

And don’t miss this speech from NASA’s head congressional liaison:

Scarcely a week after the Challenger accident, President Reagan gave his State of the Union. And to a nation still in mourning he declared,

Here’s an excellent example of why the monolithic, “study it forever and then select a single concept” NASA approach is the wrong way to do vehicle development. With private enterprise in the game, and competing concepts, we’ll be able to let the market sort out which is best. And I’ll bet that there’s market for both.

This isn’t good news, if true:

Urie said the funds being used to build the Rocketplane XP, a converted Learjet fitted with a delta wing and a rocket engine, were funneled into Rocketplane

From people attempting to leave it:

While these ventures have a futuristic outlook, what no one questions is whether the planet, already inundated with harmful emissions, needs yet more of them from space vehicles that serve no other purpose that to give rides for people with money to burn for a brief personal adventure.

Planes provide needed transportation and scientific rockets hopefully will benefit humankind. But do we really need to unload more fuel emissions into the skies with tourist rockets while we haven