When he spoke 41 years ago, the world listened — hanging on every word as he uttered one of the most inspiring phrases of the 20th century.

Neil Armstrong earned himself a lifetime of respect with his one giant leap for mankind, but he has for decades refrained from exploiting it, turning down opportunities in politics and avoiding controversy.

Now the space gloves are off. The first man on the Moon has teamed up with the last man, Gene Cernan, to confront President Obama over his “devastating” plans for Nasa’s $108 billion (£70 billion) Constellation programme. Mr Obama wants to scrap Constellation, which was meant to develop new space ships to replace the shuttle, take astronauts back to the Moon and ultimately to Mars.

Kudos to Neil Armstrong for telling the unpleasant truth -- and if anyone should know, he should.  The shortsighted Obama administration has effectively given NASA's manned space program a death sentence.  To read the rest of the article, click here.