An Audience with Neil Armstrong (2011 interview)

In this interview, the first man to walk on the moon gives a personal commentary on Apollo 11’s historic lunar landing along with his thoughts on leadership and taking risks to innovate for the future.

Neil Armstrong is a household name, yet, in contrast to his crew-mate Buzz Aldrin, he has studiously stayed out of the spotlight in the decades since he walked on the Moon. He frequently passed on interview and advertising requests, all the while beating back unwelcome advances on his legacy.

So it was a coup of sorts for Certified Practicing Accountants organization of Australia to score an extended interview with Armstrong, a connection that seems about as natural as a two-headed kangaroo. (CEO Alex Malley had developed the relationship, sharing his concerns about long-term strategic planning both in business and politics with Armstrong. The interview was a part of CPA Australia’s 125th anniversary celebration.)

Armstrong shows flashes of the rationality and equanimity that made him an ideal astronaut candidate in the first place. He confesses that he gave Apollo 11 a 90% chance of returning home safely, but just a 50% chance of landing on the Moon successfully. He expresses a sense of fate about his dangerous work as a test pilot and astronaut, refusing to worry about future tasks because he figured something would go wrong first and he’d be otherwise engaged firing the ejection seat or scrambling to repair a valve. Of his time on the Moon’s surface: “we weren’t there to meditate, we were there to get things done.”

[jasongreen]

Classy Man and American Icon

Thanks Mr Armstrong for your amazing contribution to humanity and taking time to share your thoughts with us 👍

[huntstoddard]

An interview with Armstrong could have been botched in so many ways, but this guy did it with grace, good humor and respect, an outstanding job.

[plusplusplusplusp]

And this was just a year before Mr Armstrong passed away. What a privilege to have a chat with the great man whose name will be spoken for thousands of years.

[peterlocke]

What a great interview!!. I was born in April 1957, and was allowed to stay up all night here in the uk(Birmingham), to watch the moon landing live on my parents tv. Very exciting, we could hardly believe what we were seeing, hoping that all would be well and thrilled when all three astronauts made it safely home to earth, still to this day an emotionally charged memory. The thing that this film finally made clear to me was, as I have always wondered how Neil managed to fly the eagle down to the surface, hopping over that large crater, (when the picture we had was so fuzzy from the camera they had looking out the window), the view he had was so much better as the film shows. Even so to make it down with so little fuel and time to spare, showed that Neil and Buzz Aldrin were indeed, both made of the 'right stuff !!. They will never be forgotten, thank you, what courage, and what great pioneers.

[itsmecjlee]

I was a 13-year-old in Korea when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. I wanted to immigrate to the U.S. and join the Airforce academy to pursue my goal of becoming an astronaut. My dream didn't work, but I enjoy all these beautiful interviews and documentaries that any emperor or king cannot imagine in old age. I am blessed to be born in this time of the human era.

[sergei]

In 1994, Neil Armstrong sent me a photo of himself with an inscription in response to my letter to him. I wrote that I was very interested in the Apollo program and that I had articles from Soviet newspapers of that time about all the flights of the Apollo ships and Apollo 11 in particular. I was always struck by the disbelief of some people in flights to the Moon and especially residents of the United States. A wonderful interview, unfortunately one of the last. Sincerely from Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

[jameshopkinson]

What an honour it must of been to shake the hand of a great and humble man, our leaders could learn a lot from his generation

[scottorton]

I was suffering on my parents couch with tonsillitis and my dad came in and woke me up, told me to watch the TV and to remember watching it. You couldn't see the image well but it was Neil Armstrong and the first step on the moon. This man this very humble man did what no man before him had done. He was such a humble and honest man who could keep his life fairly unencumbered. He was and is one of the people I looked up to then and still do today. I miss having this man still alive he had so much knowledge to give back to us, hopefully he had a chance in those years since to give that knowledge back. God bless you Neil, I can only hope he would approve of what we are doing at NASA now. Hope I live long enough to see man on Mars. The moon first then Mars. Keep looking to the stars all.

[paulywarly]

I have always felt that Neil Armstrong was one of the most modest men on this planet and this interview paints that picture perfectly.
Such greatness with so many milestones and achievements in his life & where death lurked around so many corners and yet never a line was shot.
Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
I think only he and perhaps no other could brush over that fact like it wasn't important.
Respect to those who go where angels fear to tread.

[kimberlyking]

Remaining so humble and docile is no doubt his greatest achievement. Fly high Mr. Armstrong.

[jg]

Heck of an interview. So glad these interviews are captured so future generations don’t forget heroes like Neil and everyone who part of the space race 👍🏻

[supercat]

Soft-spoken, polite and a gentleman.That's what Neil Armstrong was all throughout his life.

[TheDigitalDoughnut]

It's so nice to watch an interviewer that's happy to let the interviewee talk. Without feeling the need to jump in to prove how smart they are, or show how much they know.

[TuberYou]

Humble hero that didn't like the limelight. Rest easy amongst the stars Neil.

[daviddellit]

I was 13 when I watched live at home in Brisbane, Australia, as the men walked on the moon. I am now 69 and still astonished at this extraordinary achievement.

[michaelmurphy]

Just watched this. Wow!. He is my all time hero. Sadly missed. We could all do with his wisdom just now. He oozes humility and compassion as a human being. A very, very special man indeed.

[mstevens]

A most honorable man. One of the finest pilots of all time, proven *through trial, and as the next two comments state, a Hero and a class act.
A huge, enormous LIKE! Thank you, Alex Malley, for producing this most personal interview. This is a person I miss.

[randycrew]

The most enjoyable and delightful interview I’ve ever watched with Neil Armstrong. Alex Malley set pleasant atmosphere and held a relaxed and humble demeanor with Neil... such a wonderful change from most other interviewers.

Neil Armstrong held the position for me as the one person I put at the very top of a list of those I want to meet before I depart.

Thank you Alex for a great interview.

[hal_aetus]

Excellent interview. Neil was a first class pilot, engineer, and, it turns out, a first class human being too. Rare to see such a combination in pilots.

[TiagoOnYoutube]

I didn't plan to spend 49 minutes on Youtube. But this interview was just unbelievably interesting! Special congratulations to the interviewer. He knows so much about Armstrong and admires him so much. It must have been quite an honor to have interviewed him so well just months before Armstrong died.