But He Didn't Hold Onto It For Long

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong now has a piece of the rock -- a moon rock, that is. But it's not something the first man on the moon plans to keep in his pocket.

Instead, Armstrong says he'll donate the two grams of medium light gray, fine-grained basalt encased in clear plastic he received earlier this week the Cincinnati Museum Center, where it will go on permanent display. The museum is where Armstrong was honored Tuesday as the latest recipient of the NASA Ambassadors of Exploration Award.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the award was presented to Armstrong by former astronaut and US Senator John Glenn... who said he was humbled by Armstrong's accomplishments.

"I've been lucky enough to have a lot of opportunities in my own life, so I'm not usually given over to much envy of other people," said Glenn. "But for Neil, I make a big exception. I envy Neil for that wonderful, wonderful experience."

NASA is presenting the Ambassadors of Exploration award to the 38 astronauts and key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America’s vision of space exploration from 1961 to 1972.

A private person, Armstrong doesn't usually talk about himself... and he stayed true to form Tuesday night, although he admitted he was eager to hold onto his award as long as possible before donating it to the museum.

"I get to keep [the moon rock] myself only so long as I speak today," Armstrong quipped. "So I'm going to be talking longer than usual."

Armstrong then spoke at length about the formation of the universe... and the tale rocks can tell, both about the past and about the future.

"Geologists have a saying -- rocks remember," Armstrong said. "We are like dinosaurs, existing for only a few minutes of geological time."

Besides being the first man on the moon, Armstrong's career at NASA is filled with other "firsts," as well. After joining the astronaut corps in 1962, he became the first civilian to fly a U.S. spacecraft, Gemini VIII, in 1966.

On that mission, Armstrong and fellow astronaut David R. Scott performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. When a stuck thruster put their capsule into a dangerous spin, Armstrong used the re-entry rockets to regain control.

FMI: www.nasa.gov