Neil Armstrong - An icon of possibility

The death of astronaut and first man on the moon Neil Armstrong reminds us all of a time when nothing seemed impossible and that a political leader — John F Kennedy — might accept a challenge “not because it was easy, but because it was hard”.

Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” was one of the great occasions for universal optimism and though it’s almost 30 years since the last moon landing — Apollo 17 on Dec 7, 1972 — the scale of his achievement and the great collective effort and imagination it represented still inspires. How wonderful it would be if, as Armstrong takes the giant leap we all eventually face, we could rekindle that sense of possibility, that driving force of optimism.