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Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, died on 25 August at the age of 82. His “small step” on the Moon entered the history of mankind. US President Barack Obama called Armstrong “one of America’s greatest heroes”. “That’s one small step for (a) man. One giant leap for mankind”, these words were broadcast from the Moon to the Earth on 20 July 1969 when the cosmonauts of the Apollo 11 spaceship set their feet on the Moon’s surface. Neil Armstrong, the commander, was the first the crewman who left the spacecraft and stepped onto the Moon’s surface. Millions of people watched the landing on the Moon on TV, and, today, people watch the video from NASA’s archive on the internet over and over again.
In July 1969, Neil Armstrong became a world celebrity. President Obama said, “When Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten”. He added that Armstrong and his crew members showed the world that “the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable… that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible”. Although the expedition to the Moon had only few simple tasks, the process of landing was extremely difficult. During the 2½ hours they spent on the Moon, the cosmonauts captured the landscape on a video camera, took more than 20 kilos (44 pounds) of rock and soil samples, fixed equipment which enabled researchers to define the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and, of course, they planted the US flag. At the time of the space race between the US and the USSR, this was a really a symbolic gesture.
Igor Marinin, the chief editor of Novosti Kosmonavtiki (Space Industry News) magazine, said, “The Apollo program was designed around political requirements. The landing on the Moon was important not only because the Americans were the first to do it; they were the winners of the race with the USSR. The USSR also had a similar programme, to land a cosmonaut on the Moon. The Americans landed on the moon, walked there for 2 hours, tested space suits, and took soil samples. The scientific results of the Moon landing weren’t significant”.
Obama’s rival Republican Mitt Romney also paid tribute to the memory of Neil Armstrong. He said that Armstrong would continue to inspire him, saying, “Neil Armstrong today takes his place in the hall of heroes. With courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before. The moon will miss its first son of earth”. Congressman John Boehner (R-OH) said, “A true hero has returned to the heavens to which he once flew”.
Neil Armstrong was born on 5 August 1930 in Wapakoneta OH. Before becoming a cosmonaut, he served in the US Air Force, took part in the Korean War of 1950-53, and made 78 combat flights. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station in California. In March 1966, he made his first space flight as the commander of the Gemini 8 mission. Three years later, on 16 July 1969, he flew to his main mission to the Moon. On 25 August 2012, Armstrong died at the age of 82 due to complications from blocked coronary arteries.
Speaking in a media interview Sunday, Russian space scientist Professor Aleksandr Zhelezniakov recalled when Armstrong made visit to Moscow. In 1970, during that visit, Armstrong said that the role model of all US cosmonauts was the first man in space, Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin. On Saturday, retired French cosmonaut and Hero of the Soviet Union, General Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chrétien, told reporters that Neil Armstrong was a brave man, who completed the Apollo 11 mission with aplomb.
26 August 2012
Olga Denisova
Voice of Russia World Service
Voices from Russia 
Pussy Riot Says Two Members Flee Russia
Tags: Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, legal affairs, Moscow, political commentary, politics, Protest, protest action, protest actions, protesters, protests, Punk rock, Pussy Riot, Russia, Russian, Twitter, Vladimir Putin
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Two members of the female punk band Pussy Riot have fled Russia, while twelve members are still in the country, the group said on Sunday in its Twitter account, posting, “Two our members left the country because of being sought [by the police]. They’re recruiting foreign feminists for new protest actions”. In a tweet that followed, Pussy Riot said, “At least 12 Pussy Riot members remain in Russia”.
Three members of the all-female punk band Pussy Riot were jailed for two years for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, at a trial that sparked international condemnation. Along with other members of their band, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, performed a “punk prayer” near the altar of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in February urging the Virgin Mary to “drive out” Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Lawyers for Pussy Riot said the performance wasn’t anti-religious; rather, it was in protest of the Orthodox Church‘s support for Putin ahead of the 4 March presidential election that returned him to the Kremlin.
26 August 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120826/175445759.html