Neil Armstrong remembered at Air & Space Museum in San Diego
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San Diego’s Air & Space Museum honored the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, who often visited the museum for book-signings and gala events.
On Saturday, the Balboa Park museum displayed a painted portrait of Armstrong at the center of the main hallway, along with space capsules and models of the spacecraft Armstrong flew and landed on the moon.
Patrons were invited to share memories of the space pioneer who famously took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” when he became the first person to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Gordon Permann, of the Air & Space Museum, called the astronaut a “very down-to-earth guy.”
“He didn’t try to make people feel uncomfortable, or act like he felt that he was special or needed special attention,” he said. “It was the exact opposite.”
Armstrong, 82, died Saturday following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. He underwent heart surgery earlier this month, but few details were released to the public.
The American icon often shied away from the spotlight, referring to himself as a “nerdy engineer.”
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