Apollo-era building named for Neil Armstrong

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Lots of kids build model airplanes, but how many also build a wind tunnel to test and improve their models?

Neil Armstrong did, and more than the "small step" on the moon that secured his place in history 45 years ago, that explains the kind of person he was, said Michael Collins, Armstrong's Apollo 11 crewmate along with Buzz Aldrin.

"That powerful, powerful combination of curiosity and intelligence propelled him to the top of his profession," Collins said today at Kennedy Space Center. "Over and over again he took it one step further, and that eventually brought him to the last rung on the ladder of the Apollo 11 (lunar module)."

Collins, Aldrin and family members of the late Armstrong, who died in 2012 at age 82, were among dignitaries who addressed roughly 500 guests during a ceremony formally naming a historic KSC facility after the first moonwalker.

Though Armstrong would not have sought the honor, they said, it was appropriate for his name to grace the Operations and Checkout Building, where thousands worked behind the scenes to prepare Apollo spacecraft for flight and where astronauts spent months training for their missions.

"Neil never capitalized on his celebrity," said Jim Lovell, Armstrong's backup commander for Apollo 11. "He always felt that he was part of a team of thousands of people working together to honor President Kennedy's commitment."

Inside the renovated "O&C" high bay that housed the ceremony, a smaller team now is working on a spacecraft NASA says will lead to its "next giant leap," to an asteroid in the mid-2020s and some day Mars.

The Orion capsule is being prepared for a first test flight in space later this year, without a crew.

In a move symbolically linking the Apollo program's achievement with planned future exploration, Administrator Charlie Bolden gave KSC Director Bob Cabana a framed mission patch that flew to the moon.

The Apollo 11 crew gave the patch to NASA in 1987 with an inscription that it should be presented to the first Mars-bound crew – a mission the agency hopes to launch from KSC, possibly in the 2030s.

"That is just unbelievably cool," Cabana said.

NASA also linked its two current International Space Station crew members, Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman, into the ceremony.

Both credited Apollo 11 as a source of inspiration, and Wiseman drew laughs with his admission that he wasn't alive at the time (he was born six years later), but had learned about his parents' experience watching the lunar landing in the summer of 1969.

"They used to tell me the story every single summer, so I grew up with this in my mind all the time," he said from orbit 260 miles up. "It was huge inspiration for me."

Armstrong, after whom NASA also recently renamed its Dryden Flight Research Center in California, was remembered as an American hero and icon, with brains to match his superb skills as a test pilot.

"That man, without a doubt was one of the best, certainly the best test pilot, I feel, that was selected for the NASA program," said Aldrin.

Armstrong's two sons also touched on lighter moments in their father's career and the kind of person he was.

Mark Armstrong presented a painting commemorating the "incident" during some rare time off when his dad and fellow astronaut Pete Conrad ran a boat aground while water skiing on the Banana River (Conrad was driving).

His brother Rick told the audience that if Armstrong were running the building now named in his honor, they could expect a boss who was honest, forthright and fair almost to a fault.

If you were unprepared for a question from Armstrong, he suggested, stall with discussion about airplanes or complex math problems, but never bluff through issues.

"He is a bit of a stickler for accuracy and precision," said Rick. "Although, if you're working in this building, I'm pretty sure you've got that concept covered already."

In addition to being the factory for Orion's assembly, the Operations and Checkout building continues to serve as crew quarters for visiting astronauts. For three decades it was recognizable as the place shuttle crews suited up before walking out to a cheering crowd and a ride to the launch pad in the Astrovan – the last time three years ago.

Collins said Armstrong would be proud to have his name on a building that reflected the "heart and soul of the space business," even if it was not his style to want such things.

"If he were here today, I think he would enjoy prowling around this building, every nook and cranny," he said. "More than anyone else I have known, I felt he had an intuitive grasp of flight machinery and its complexity, and of the intricate knowledge required by you in the jobs that you perform here daily."

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com