--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Open Letter to Neil Armstrong\" Dear Neil…" description: "\"“Open Letter to Neil Armstrong\" Dear Neil Armstrong, I write this to you as she sleeps down the hall. I need answers I think only you might have. When ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/mike-mcgee-89007_alien-life_open-letter-to-neil-armstrong-dear-neil_1609323.jpg" --- # Open Letter to Neil Armstrong" Dear Neil Armstrong, I… ![“Open Letter to Neil Armstrong" Dear Neil Armstrong, I write this to you as she sleeps down the hall. I need answers I think only you might have. When you were a boy, and space was simple science fiction, when flying was merely a daydream between periods of History and Physics, when gifts of moon…” quote by Mike McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/mike-mcgee-89007_alien-life_open-letter-to-neil-armstrong-dear-neil_1609323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/mike-mcgee-89007_alien-life_open-letter-to-neil-armstrong-dear-neil_1609323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/mike-mcgee-89007_alien-life_open-letter-to-neil-armstrong-dear-neil_1609323.jpg) > ““Open Letter to Neil Armstrong" Dear Neil Armstrong, I write this to you as she sleeps down the hall. I need answers I think only you might have. When you were a boy, and space was simple science fiction, when flying was merely a daydream between periods of History and Physics, when gifts of moon dust to the one you loved could only be wrapped in your imagination.. Before the world knew your name; before it was a destination in the sky.. What was the moon like from your back yard? Your arm, strong warm and wrapped under her hair both of you gazing up from your back porch summers before your distant journey. But upon landing on the moon, as the earth rose over the sea of tranquility, did you look for her? What was it like to see our planet, and know that everything, all you could be, all you could ever love and long for.. was just floating before you. Did you write her name in the dirt when the cameras weren't looking? Surrounding both your initials with a heart for alien life to study millions of years from now? What was it like to love something so distant? What words did you use to bring the moon back to her? And what did you promise in the moons ear, about that girl back home? Can you, teach me, how to fall from the sky? I ask you this, not because I doubt your feat, I just want to know what it's like to go somewhere no man had ever been, just to find that she wasn't there. To realize your moon walk could never compare to the steps that led to her. I now know that the flight home means more. Every July I think of you. I imagine the summer of 1969, how lonely she must have felt while you were gone.. You never went back to the moon. And I believe that's because it dosen't take rockets to get you where you belong. I see that in this woman down the hall, sometimes she seems so much further. But I'm ready for whatever steps I must take to get to her.I have seem SO MANY skies.. but the moon, well, it always looks the same. So I gotta say, Neil, that rock you landed on, has got NOTHING on the rock she's landed on. You walked around, took samples and left.. She's built a fire cleaned up the place and I hope she decides to stay.. because on this rock.. we can breath. Mr. Armstrong, I don't have much, many times have I been upside down with trauma, but with these empty hands, comes a heart that is often more full than the moon. She's becoming my world, pulling me into orbit, and I now know that I may never find life outside of hers. I want to give her EVERYTHING I don't have yet.. So YES, for her, I would go to the moon and back… But not without her. We'd claim the moon for each other, with flags made from sheets down the hall. And I'd risk it ALL to kiss her under the light of the earth, the brightness of home... but I can do all of that and more right here, where she is..And when we gaze up, her arms around ME, I will NOT promise her gifts of moon dust, or flights of fancy. Instead I will gladly give her all the earth she wants, in return for all the earth she is. The sound of her heart beat and laughter, and all the time it takes to return to fall from the sky,down the hall, and right into love. God, I'd do it every day, if I could just land next to her. One small step for man, but she's one giant leap for my kind.”” Mike McGee ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A poetic, speculative letter to Neil Armstrong reflecting on love, distance, and humanity's yearning for connection beyond Earth. **In simple terms:** Letter to Armstrong. Key Takeaway Contemplate love and exploration. Themes exploration love loneliness human connection space travel Mood nostalgic reflective Type Alien life:0 Empty hands:0 Every day:0 Heart beat:0 Love:0 Moon:0 Relationships:0 Science fiction:0 Space:0 Universe:0 Small Step For Man:0 Landing On The Moon:0 Neil Armstrong:0 Dear Neil:0 Armstrong Dear:0 Letter Neil:0 Armstrong Write:0 When to use this quote - writing - meditation - space advocacy Key Concepts poetry personal reflection astronomy Questions to Reflect On - What does the moon symbolize for you? - How does distance shape love? A Different Perspective Romanticizing space may overlook practical concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alien life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alien-life/) [Empty hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-hands/) [Heart beat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-beat/) [Landing On The Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landing-on-the-moon/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [One small step for man, one giant d\*\*\* in Russia's mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-defranco/one-small-step-for-man-one-giant-d-in-russia-s-mouth/) Phillip DeFranco > [“To the moon, Alice!” Maybe it wasn’t as humble or elegant as ‘One small step for man,’ But if this was being recorded for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-thorman/to-the-moon-alice-maybe-it-wasn-t-as-humble-or-elegant-as-one-small/) [Daniel Thorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-thorman/) > [“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/one-small-step-for-man-one-giant-leap-for-mankind/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [“Dave’s gently probing finger takes one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-vale/dave-s-gently-probing-finger-takes-one-small-step-for-man-one-giant/) Cameron Vale > [“I have heard people bewailing man's landing on the moon, as though before it was touched by an astronaut's foot it was made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-athill/i-have-heard-people-bewailing-man-s-landing-on-the-moon-as-though/) [Diana Athill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-athill/) > [Neil Armstrong, when he was out there landing on the moon, I was there first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-roberts/neil-armstrong-when-he-was-out-there-landing-on-the-moon-i-was-there/) [Mark Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-roberts/) > [If you look, like, in 1960, there was no such thing as an astronaut. It was a totally fanciful concept, but nine years later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-beacham/if-you-look-like-in-1960-there-was-no-such-thing-as-an-astronaut-it/) [Travis Beacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-beacham/) > [“The topography of Big Bend is so barren and jagged that America's astronauts in the 1960s took field trips to the park to prepare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jameson/the-topography-of-big-bend-is-so-barren-and-jagged-that-america-s/) John Jameson > [Landing on the moon was a dream that millions of kids have had for hundreds of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/landing-on-the-moon-was-a-dream-that-millions-of-kids-have-had-for/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [Literally, my earliest memory, my earliest vivid memory, is the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Yeah, I was in fourth grade, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/literally-my-earliest-memory-my-earliest-vivid-memory-is-the-apollo/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [“Penn replied that surely bin Laden had provided quite a number of his very own broadcasts and videos. I was again impressed by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/penn-replied-that-surely-bin-laden-had-provided-quite-a-number-of-his/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There is film of the Americans landing on the moon. Does that mean the moon shot really happened? In the film, the Yanqui flag…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/there-is-film-of-the-americans-landing-on-the-moon-does-that-mean-the/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [The whole period of the '60s changed a lot of us; there was never a decade like that in American history... to have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/the-whole-period-of-the-60s-changed-a-lot-of-us-there-was-never-a/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [The exciting part for me, as a pilot, was the landing on the moon. 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I was at about 10,000 feet on a nice, bright, sunny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deke-slayton/i-was-testing-a-p-51-fighter-in-minneapolis-when-i-spotted-this/) [Deke Slayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deke-slayton/) > [We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldnt want to meet. I imagine they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/we-only-have-to-look-at-ourselves-to-see-how-intelligent-life-might/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“The Frankenstein myth confronts Homo Sapiens with the fact that the last days are fast approaching. Unless some nuclear or ecological catastrophe intervenes, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-frankenstein-myth-confronts-homo-sapiens-with-the-fact-that-the/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [There's so much interest and curiosity about alien life, interstellar travel. It's always in the news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/there-s-so-much-interest-and-curiosity-about-alien-life-interstellar/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) [Browse all 38 Alien life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alien-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Open Letter to Neil Armstrong\" Dear Neil Armstrong, I write this to you as she sleeps down the hall. I need answers I think only you might have. When you were a boy, and space was simple science fiction, when flying was merely a daydream between periods of History and Physics, when gifts of moon dust to the one you loved could only be wrapped in your imagination.. Before the world knew your name; before it was a destination in the sky.. What was the moon like from your back yard? Your arm, strong warm and wrapped under her hair both of you gazing up from your back porch summers before your distant journey. But upon landing on the moon, as the earth rose over the sea of tranquility, did you look for her? What was it like to see our planet, and know that everything, all you could be, all you could ever love and long for.. was just floating before you. Did you write her name in the dirt when the cameras weren't looking? Surrounding both your initials with a heart for alien life to study millions of years from now? What was it like to love something so distant? What words did you use to bring the moon back to her? And what did you promise in the moons ear, about that girl back home? Can you, teach me, how to fall from the sky? I ask you this, not because I doubt your feat, I just want to know what it's like to go somewhere no man had ever been, just to find that she wasn't there. To realize your moon walk could never compare to the steps that led to her. I now know that the flight home means more. Every July I think of you. I imagine the summer of 1969, how lonely she must have felt while you were gone.. You never went back to the moon. And I believe that's because it dosen't take rockets to get you where you belong. I see that in this woman down the hall, sometimes she seems so much further. But I'm ready for whatever steps I must take to get to her.I have seem SO MANY skies.. but the moon, well, it always looks the same. So I gotta say, Neil, that rock you landed on, has got NOTHING on the rock she's landed on. You walked around, took samples and left.. She's built a fire cleaned up the place and I hope she decides to stay.. because on this rock.. we can breath. Mr. Armstrong, I don't have much, many times have I been upside down with trauma, but with these empty hands, comes a heart that is often more full than the moon. She's becoming my world, pulling me into orbit, and I now know that I may never find life outside of hers. I want to give her EVERYTHING I don't have yet.. 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