"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Neil Armstrong passed away yesterday due to complication from heart surgery and the cornucopia of tributes and descriptions of the man range from hero, to legend, through icon. On that fateful day in the summer of 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, which was watched by almost the entire planet, he accomplished this feat, not on his own, but with the combined vision, talent, and work of thousands of people. He never forgot that. Even though Neil was a Korean War era Navy Pilot and NASA test pilot, he always considered himself to be mainly an engineer who flew:

"I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer, born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace and propelled by compressible flow."

One of the little known facts about his life was that he retired from NASA a couple of years after the moon landing and went to teach Aerospace Engineering. How cool would that have been to show up in class at the beginning of the term to hear, "This is introduction in Aeronautical Engineering and I am your professor, Neil Armstrong."

The description of hero is over used, especially in today's 24 hour media cycle. Neil Armstrong could simply be described as an inspiration. His feat inspired an entire generation of kids, including me, that dreams were possible.

That's was Neil Armstrong's greatest accomplishment.