Preston man recalls the moment 51 years ago he met Neil Armstrong

A Preston man met Neil Armstrong while he was on NASA’s International Youth Science Tour 50 years ago.

66-year-old Preston and District Astronomical Society (PADAS) Vice Chairman, Dermot Gethings, first met Mr Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, whilst staying at a motel in Florida on the Apollo 17 launch day in 1972. Mr Gethings had a photograph taken with Mr Armstrong and received a rare autograph on a group photo taken the following day at a formal meeting with the tour group.

Mr Gethings said: “I actually bumped into him, by accident, stood on his toe.” He added: “I was privileged, deeply honoured, to meet some of my heroes.”

Mr Gethings also said that he felt Mr. Armstrong was “pure legend”, as well as being his all-time hero. He added that he felt lucky to have received an autograph, keeping it as one of his treasured possessions, as astronaut Mr Armstrong had said no to autographs.

Mr Gethings was 16 years old when he was flown out to NASA to be part of the International Youth Science Tour in December 1972. The International Youth Science Tour was initiated by NASA and the US State Department.

The tour brought 80 student representatives, each from different countries, together for the Apollo 17 mission. Mr Gethings said he felt as though he was part of a “groundbreaking project” and said he felt deeply honoured and privileged to have been invited to attend.

He added: “As a passionate space enthusiast, passionate about astronomy and space exploration, I really lived out the space race of the 1960s.” The Apollo 17 crew collected a piece of moon rock, which was fragmented and named the ‘Goodwill Moon Rock’.

A piece was presented to each student representative live from the moon by Mission Commander, Gene Cernan, and Lunar Module Pilot, Harrison Schmitt. Mr Gethings presented the rock alongside former astronaut, Brigadier General, Jim McDivitt, to the Prime Minister of the time, Edward Heath, in 1973.

The ‘Goodwill Moon Rock’ is on display in London’s Natural History Museum. PADAS regularly hold meetings every third Thursday of every month at Moor Park Observatory and welcome attendees with an interest in astronomy.