#300

"Better we show them, we chose to die on our feet, rather than live on our knees!"

- Theomistocles, 300: Rise of an empire

Explorers: Neil Armstrong

The most historic event of man kind was immortalised in his statement

"This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

- Neil Alden Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.

"The bosses asked, 'Do you think you and your guys are ready?' I said it'd be nice to have another month, but we're in a race here and we had to take the opportunity when we had it. I had to say we are ready, we are ready to go."

In January 1969, Armstrong was chosen to command Apollo 11 space mission. He was accompanied by  Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr and Michael Collins. On July 16, 1969, a saturn 5 booster rocket launched Apollo 11 and its crew into space. Four days later, on July 2, the lunar module, the eagle landed on the moon, in a smooth region called the sea of Tranquility.

"In my view, the emotional moment was the landing. That was human contact with the moon, the landing…. It was at the time when we landed that we were there, we were in the lunar environment, the lunar gravity. That, in my view, was…the emotional high. And the business of getting down the ladder to me was much less significant."

Armstrong thrilled the world when he radioed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with the declaration. "Eagle has landed". Then at 10:56 PM (EST), Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon.

For nearly 22 hours, Armstrong and Aldrin explored and collected samples of the moon's surface.

On 22 July, The apollo 11 crew re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, splashing down in the pacific ocean at 12:50PM (EST).

Hailed as Heroes, the astronauts were each awarded he Presidential medal of freedom.

Neil Armstrong interview, BBC 1970.

In a 1970 interview with BBC Television, months after he returned from the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong recounted his experience on the moon, describing its surface and the experience in vivid detail.

Full interviews:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/25/neil-armstrong-last-interview
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neil-armstrong-apollo-11/

What starts here changes the world.

Naval Admiral William H. McRaven spoke to the graduates with lessons he learned from his basic SEAL training.

The 10 Lessons:

#1 If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

#2 If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

#3 If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of   their flippers.

#4 If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

#5 But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.

#6 If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

#7 So, if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.

#8 If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.

#9 So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

#10  If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

Brave

"Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it"

- Bear Grylls

Sun

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you"

- Moari Proverb

The Persistent

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or when the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly... who, at the best,knows,in the end, the triumph of high achievement,and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails whilst daring greatly- so that his place shall never be with these cold and timid souls who neither victory nor defeat... for those who have had to fight for it, life has truly a flavour the protected shall never know."

- Theodore Roosevelt