UPDATE: Neil Armstrong passed away today at the age of 82. I posted this last August 13th, 2011, and as a tribute to his extraordinary life, I’m reposting it today in tribute to one of mankind’s greatest ambassadors for wisdom and peace.

I’m a huge fan of John F. Kennedy, the 34th President of the United States.  JFK was a brilliant man who had a vision to send Americans to the moon before the Soviet Union did it.  He correctly surmised that even though we were behind in the space race, if Americans could send a man to the moon first, the historic achievement would be so vast that it would place us light years ahead of the Soviets in the race to explore space.  Here is a highlight of his most famous speech about going to the moon delivered at Rice University in 1962.

The full speech is extraordinary, and you can watch it by clicking anywhere on this sentence.

On July 20th, 1969, Kennedy’s vision came to fruition as the Apollo 11’s lunar module spacecraft, Eagle, touched down on the moon’s surface in the “Sea of Tranquility.”  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours on the moon’s surface while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins orbited in the Columbia before he picked them up.  They returned to Earth on July 24th, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.  It was one of human history’s greatest achievements ever.  I was born in 1984, and consequently missed this historic occasion.  Luckily, the kind users of youtube have uploaded a special documentary of the original CBS broadcast, expertly hosted by Walter Cronkite, which I will display below.  It is a thrilling document of history, and makes you kind of sad that very little in today’s news and course of human events can rival the majestic profundity of this moment.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

Most of us have seen Ron Howard’s incredible 1995 movie, Apollo 13.  I remember that my father took me to see it in the theaters, and it was one of the most incredible movies I’d ever witnessed.  Every time the film is on television, I find myself glued to the screen in rapt awe and tension.  The film’s power is rooted in the almost unimaginable reality of the harrowing situation that gripped the world on April 14th, 1970.  This reality was relayed in riveting real time television by legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite.  Regular readers of my blog, and general users of the internet, know how horrible youtube can be, but its worth noting its brilliance as well.  The fact that I can present you the 19 part blow by blow account of Cronkite’s coverage of Apollo 13 is just incredible.  You will simply be totally blown away by this presentation.  The story of Apollo 13 is a mesmerizing event in human history, and everyone involved in ensuring it’s “successful failure” are heroes beyond the telling of it.  Enjoy.  PS, be sure to click the “READ MORE” button (or this sentence) below the 3rd video to see all 19 parts.

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Part 78 of my youtube countdown takes us to the stars and beyond with the legendary Carl Sagan “singing” about the wonder and beauty of the universe with Stephen Hawking.  Some brilliant interneter cobbled this autotune masterpiece together featuring Sagan and Hawking rhapsodizing their best and most profound quotes into a groovy psychedelic techno jam.  Carl Sagan, one of the world’s greatest science popularizers, and all around decent human being, had a beautiful universal outlook.  He was able to advocate clearly, like no other astronomer before him, the endless magnificence of the universe, inspiring millions worldwide to look to the stars.  He was also a huge proponent of SETI, (the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence), even writing the book Contact, which later became the feature film starring Jodi Foster.  Sagan’s life was tragically cut short by cancer in 1996.  Hawking, the world’s greatest physicist, also makes an appearance in this video.  Hawking, as most know, suffers from Lou Gerhig’s Disease, a condition that has nearly paralyzed him, yet has not stopped his brain, or his tremendous work output, as he has contributed a wealth of mind-blowing knowledge to the world of science.  Anyway, this video is a fantastic thought provoking clip, and well worth watching.  Enjoy.