'Blue Moon' Occurs On The Day Of His Memorial Service

We've all heard the expression "Once in a blue moon." And while the moon doesn't actually turn blue, it is a rare occurrence. A Blue Moon is a second full moon in a calendar month, and there will be on on August 31st.

Perhaps fittingly, August 31st also is the day that the family of Neil Armstrong plans a private memorial service to honor the first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong, as you probably know, passed away last Saturday at the age of 82 from complications from recent heart surgery.

Armstrong has been lauded by many in the days since since he passed. And the tributes are fitting for a man who described one of the most extraordinary accomplishments of the last century as "just doing my job."

But maybe the most fitting tribute was one that could not have been planned. Call it the serendipity of the cosmos. The next "Blue Moon" won't come around until July 2015. If you're out Friday night, under the full moon, you might let your gaze linger a little longer than usual, and remember the man who made that "one giant leap for mankind."

FMI: www.nasa.gov