Neil Armstrong visits Israel

Neil Armstrong, the first man to ever walk on the surface of the moon, visited Israel this week to give motivational lectures at the invitation of a local investment company. One of Armstrong’s first stops, however, was at the Space and Technology Museum in the northern port city of Haifa, where he answered questions for an excited group of Israeli children and teenagers. Interest in space travel and related subjects has skyrocketed among Israeli students ever since the death of Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. Armstrong encouraged the Israeli youth in remarks carried by the Associated Press to apply themselves in the subjects of science and mathematics if they want to one day follow in his and Ramon’s footsteps.