Music over for Philadelphia violin shop

Marywood hosting spring luncheon June 9

First Posted: 4/18/2010 
"I BELIEVE every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine."

&amp;#8211; Neil Alden Armstrong
Neil Armstrong has been an ever-vigilant guardian of the appellation &amp;#8212; First Man on the Moon. Throughout the last 41 years he has been the reluctant hero and a most camera-shy celebrity. Rarely does he appear in public or speak to the news media except, on those few occasions, when it might be historically appropriate.
 Yet Armstrong taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati for almost a decade after he walked on the moon. He served on presidential panels to investigate the Apollo 13 and Challenger accidents. He resisted the overtures from both political parties to seek high elective office. He shunned most business offers, agreeing to serve on some corporate boards and even did a stint as Chrysler spokesperson because it was an American company, with fine engineering, in serious financial difficulty.
Armstrong could have sold his permanent place in history for well more than a billion dollars. But he did not think it right. When he discovered his autographs were being hustled for more than $1,000 apiece, he stopped giving them. Saddened to learn his barber was cutting and selling his hair for a hefty sum, he sued and required the barber to donate the money to charity.
For these reasons, Neil Armstrong would not even sign his correspondence, until now.
Last week, President Obama received a stinging letter above the names of heroic Americans: Neil Armstrong, Eugene Cernan and James Lovell &amp;#8212; mission commanders of Apollo 11, 17 and 13 respectively. They strongly criticized the president's February cancellation of Constellation, America's new manned-space program, five years in the making. (You might have read about it here on Feb. 21.)
In a rare public statement of astronaut outrage, the first man on the moon, the last and the one who never got there told Obama his "decision to scrap Constellation, its Ares I and Ares V rockets, and the Orion spacecraft is devastating" to America's future in space.
With the space shuttle grounded after three more flights, the astronauts wrote, "America's only path to Earth orbit will now be subject to an agreement with Russia to purchase space on their Soyuz at a price of over $50 million per seat."
That's called hailing a cab in the rain.
"For the United States, the leading spacefaring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second- or even third-rate stature," they said.
It's not often three patriots so accustomed to obeying their superiors pen such a message to a commander in chief. Hopefully their courageous stance will be the catalyst for Congress to act and save Constellation and the tens of thousands of jobs in Florida and across the country that go with it. 
Facing growing criticism, Obama traveled to the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday with a vague, reshuffled plan for damage control. It felt like the public option all over again. More telling were the two political fundraisers he scheduled that evening in Miami. One went for $30,000 a couple. 
In 2012, Florida will have 28 electoral votes at stake. On Aug. 5, Neil Armstrong will be 80. This extremely private American hero made public his letter to a president. He believes humans have a finite number of heartbeats. Obama is on notice; Neil Armstrong does not intend to waste any of his.

Stars of space blast desertion of Constellation Kevin Blaum In The Arena