. >> neil armstrong became a testament to all americans of what can be achieved through vision and dedication but that eulogy for the first man on the moon delivered by the last to leave it captures the spirit of all those who made that journey. ♪ let me see what spring is like on jupiter and mars ♪ >> american heroes, whose final mission ended more than 40 years ago. i'm neil cavuto reporting from the kennedy space center visitor complex in florida. it is hard for people my age to believe that most americans weren't even alive the last time a man walked on the moon. apollo 17 astronaut gene cernan on december 14th, 1972. a number of the explorers who made the trip have passed away. the rest are now in their late 70s, some 80s, but the story they tell still sounds like something out of the future, not the past. it's a story about how america, with a combination of vision, high-techno-how, and good old-fashioned courage answered the challenge of arrival, stepped into the unknown and achieved what almost seems as unbelievable today as it was a half century ago. ♪ it was october 4th, 1957, at th

there was a lot of gossip back and forth, it ended up neil armstrong was the first man.supposed to be, right? >> there was an uncertainty, every e.v.a. done by the junior person. the senior person has the responsibility for much more requirements. it would seem to me that the outside activity should be the job of the junior person. >> but who was that supposed to be? was it going to be you? was it going to be armstrong? >> you know, there's a lot of discussion about the commander leading his troops somewhere, and the commander is the symbolic person, and neil was closer to the door, but i don't tell you which decision really -- >> it is weird, right? i mean -- >> no, it's not weird. i went home and told joan, my wife, frankly, i'd just assume be on a later mission where i wouldn't have to put up with all of the celebrity speech making and all of this for the rest of my life. >> july 16th, 1969, showtime. >> you think about the countdown as the curtain opening, worry, the clouds, clear thinking, it's absolutely needed should something goes wrong. >> the launch, another da

. >> that's one small step for man -- >> reporter: it's been nearly 45 years since neil armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. >> and liftoff. the final liftoff of atlantis. >> reporter: with the end of the space shuttle program, nasa's no longer able to launch manned missions of its own. its priorities are elsewhere. with rovers exploring mars. for all the enthusiasm, china still lags far behind the u.s. and russia in space technology and experience. but it's advancing fast. >> sooner or later, we will have a permanent moon base over there. >> reporter: the base is already being built. there's a museum model. but it's a vision and ambition that's driving china's moon adventure. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. >>> south africa and the world will say a final farewell to nelson mandela tomorrow. today his body arrived at the village where he grew up in eastern south africa. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel was there today and has our report. >> reporter: nelson mandela finally came home, flown to the village of qunu, driven to the family compound in what remai

. >> that's one small step for man -- >> reporter: it's been nearly 45 years since neil armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. >> and liftoff. the final liftoff of atlantis. >> reporter: with the end of the space shuttle program, nasa's no longer able to launch manned missions of its own. its priorities are elsewhere. for all the enthusiasm, china still lags far behind the u.s. and russia in space technology and experience. but it's advancing fast. >> sooner or later, we will have a permanent moon base over there. >> reporter: the base is already being built. there's a museum model. but it's a vision and ambition that's driving china's moon adventure. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. >>> south africa and the world will say a final farewell to nelson mandela tomorrow. today his body arrived at the village where he grew up in eastern south africa. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel was there today and has our report. >> reporter: nelson mandela finally came home, flown to the village of qunu, driven to the family compound in what remains a rural hamlet just like

. >> neil armstrong became a testament to all americans of what can be achieved through vision and dedicationirst man on the moon delivered by the last to leave it captures the spirit of all those who made that journey. ♪ let me see what spring is like on jupiter and mars ♪ >> american heroes, whose final mission ended more than 40 years ag

the american people gravitate to, like, peter, when you come to the museum, they come to see neil armstrong's face, the star spangled banner, george washington's uniform and sort. i listened to the visitors, and i picked things totally behind the scenes, some never been on exhibition, but they round out the story of the american spirit. >> 101 objects, how many objects does the smithsonian have in the collection? how many are on display? >> at least 137 million objects. that's specimen, artifacts, artwork, and living collections. remember, the pan that, no. 71 in the book, is one of the objects. we have a lot. at any one time, maybe 1% of the smithsonian collection is on display. now, we loan out to other museums around the country for research and exhibition work, but people just see the tip of the iceberg when they come to the museum. >> you have one here on exhibit that you have in the book, 101 octobers of american history, what is it? >> well, this is a wagon, being named after the river in pennsylvania, and it was created, we think, we don't know who exactly invented it, but it comes to

. >> neil armstrong became a testament to all americans of what can be achieved through vision and dedicationthe spirit of all those who made that journey. ♪ let me see what spring is like on jupiter and mars ♪ >> american heroes, whose final mission ended more than 40 ar

ago, four to six months neil armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. i am astonished, but the president of the united states did not go to neil armstrong's funeral. how is that possible? you have an explanation? host: i do not. i know he did issue a statement on the passing of neil armstrong and we cover the memorial service that took lace in his native ohio. this is the headline from the wall street journal. fromn mandela rose militant anti-apartheid activist to become the president of a democratic south africa and a global symbol of racial reconciliation, died at his johannesburg home following a link these day and a pretoria hospital. he was 95 years old. our nation has lost its greatest son. our people have lost a father. another statement from another former president from bill clinton who issued a statement yesterday afternoon. the world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings. hillary, chelsea and i have lost a true friend. his three will remember nelson mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom fo

you'll recognize that, nasa's neil armstrong becoming the first man on the moon with the apollo 11 crewasa ushered in a whole new era of exploration with the space shuttle missions. watch. >> america's first space shuttle. and the shuttle has cleared the tower. >> well, that moment is always magical. john zarrella in miami, you've covered so many of these space missions. you see it. it takes your breath away every single time you see something like that. let's talk about the big picture here. right? you've got russia spending about $70 billion on its program. you've got china sending its first astronaut into space. in 2003, the moon landing. is there a threat here? u.s. outsourcing space exploration to the private sector that we're behind? >> yeah, you know, put it in perspective though. as you brought up, in 1972, the last u.s. astronaut walked on the moon. we're not talking about a moon landing here with humans. the united states is still pretty far ahead when it comes to human exploration. don't forget the united states went 130 million miles and put the rover curiosity and a bunch o

>> neil armstrong. >> reporter: the biggest challenge is keeping up with his appetite for learning. >imple answer. when he asks you a question like he is asking me why some clouds are white and some are gray. i just said when they are gray, there is more chances of rain. he said, well, i know that! >> what about that? that is an i. >> what do you think that is? >> silicone. >> reporter: no surprise what he plans to be when he grows up. >> a scientist. >> the aim is basically for him to be a successful person in the future, somebody useful for the society and help mankind with his gift. >> reporter: he may only be 4, but this little fellow had some great advice for me. >> good -- chocolate is good for older brains. >> reporter: chocolate is good for your brain? that is the secret? >> yes. >> reporter: who taught you that? >> my mom. >> reporter: realizing already mom is never wrong, this is one very smart little boy, indeed. for "today," anna bell roberts, nbc news. yorkshire, england. >> it's not easy to make it into men'sa. to do so at 3 years old is unheard of. that got us to thinki

. >> since the start of the apollo missions, every space suit, including the ones worn by neil armstrong aldrin on the moon, has been made here at ilc dover's facility in delaware. >> by 1965, we won the contract as a prime contract for the apollo space suit. in the 1970s, when the space shuttle contract, we go on to build those suits and now we're building for the space station, an identical type suit. >> each suit is handmade over the course of a couple months with extensive testing for flexibility and durability. but just climbing into the suit can be a challenge. would-be astronauts first have to put on a suit filled with tubes of liquid cooling water. >> you're in the suit for six, seven, maybe eight hours working, you're working very hard, you generate a lot of heat, a lot of humidity in the seat. this helps relieve that by the cooling tubes up against close to the skin. >> and getting the entire suit on requires a bit of help. >> many layers of this. it makes it a little difficult to get in. there you go. >> once it's on, ilc dover runs the suit through exercises to test its range

the american people gravitate to, like, peter, when you come to the museum, they come to see neil armstrong's face, the star spangled banner, george washington's uniform and sort. i listened to the visitors, and i picked things totally behind the scenes, some never been on exhibition, but they round out the story of the american spirit. >> 101 objects, how many objects does the smithsonian have in the collection? how many are on display? >> at least 137 million objects. that's specimen, artifacts, artwork, and living collections. remember, the pan that, no. 71 in the book, is one of the objects. we have a lot. at any one time, maybe 1% of the smithsonian collection is on display. now, we loan out to other museums around the country for research and exhibition work, but people just see the tip of the iceberg when they come to the museum. >> you have one here on exhibit that you have in the book, 101 octobers of american history, what is it? >> well, this is a wagon, being named after the river in pennsylvania, and it was created, we think, we don't know who exactly invented it, but it comes to

i'm doing the book now on neil armstrong and i just got through writing about his partner on the moonace walk. it was on geme nrini 12, but bea guy from m.i.t. with all these degrees, he studied it very closely. they tell me it's like trying to walk straight on a merry go round because you can't do it. you're going around and around the earth and your center of gravity is not on your legs. your legs are sort of like in the way and they have to be able to handle something and move hand over the next grip. that's why buzz put up handrails. that's why they have all of these now, buzz even faxed him a pair of golden slippers he put at his workstation and he had control of his body. otherwise, they were having all kinds of trouble. these guys work out in a pool and their space suits in houston and they practice all of this and they get useded to to do this as close to how it is on earth is when they're floating in the water. so when they go out there, after all, this was a walk by rick and the first by mike. but any way, they got out there, they knew what they were doing and of course, it'

the same year neil armstrong walked on the moon.n the other side of the aisle there are signs that the unified front of the democratic party may be cracking. a week ago a "wall street journal" op-ed from a centrist think tank called third way targeted bill de blasio and elizabeth warren saying economic populism will be disastrous for democrats. the piece warns senator warren's plan to expand entitlements like social security and medicare by raising taxes and closing corporate loopholes is a dead end for democrats. liberal groups supporting warren are pushing back calling on high-profile democratic members of congress to disavow the piece. >> going to be interesting. republicans seem to be really starting -- be more unified after the disaster of the government shutdown and eric cantor speaking from a state where no republican holds an office. >> he's been fanning the social issues. you guys have a tea party problem. i was on a radio show not too long ago with ben weber and a woman from the tea party who is running against pete sessio

. >> reporter: it has been nearly 50 years since neil armstrong was the first to go on the moon and thethe manned missions to the moon but for china this successful space mission is the latest stage in a program that aims to eventually put a chinese astronaut on the moon and they will open a permanent space station in the earth's orbit and it's named u 2 and means jade rabbit and a public pole in china decided the name which comes from a chinese myth about the pet white rabbit of a goddess who lives on the moon. >> thank you. and thomas joins us with a look at what we are following for the next hour, good morning thomas >> good morning, at the end of the first hour this is what we are following this morning, 125 people were killed in an attack on the northern city of alepo. helicopters dropped explosives on rebel held parts of the city. tens of thousand are protesting after the union broke off talks with the government and chilly the president has been reelected and food and supplies are air-lifted to syrian refugees struggling against bitter cold and fierce storms and the next hour a r

that's neil armstrong back in '69. for mankind as a whole. the next goal to send a human to the moon. >> very cool. >> if you're about to head off to work, you want to stop and hear this. does your state have the country's worst drivers? well, there's a new list out this morning based on speeding tickets, careless driving and failure to obey traffic signals. here they are, the top five. alabama in fifth place followed by texas, mississippi in third, south carolina the runner up. so number one worst driving nation is louisiana. >> nice. >> surprisingly, new york and new jersey didn't even make it into the top ten. new york was 22 and new jersey 32. they're clearly not driving where i'm driving. >> as the only southerner here. >> i think the survey was conducted by a new yorker. >> wow, i kind of like it. >> i'll stick up for the southerners. anyway, from the worst drivers to the best, a librarian at yale compiled a list of the most memorable lines of 2013 and included in the top ten, everyone's favorite mayor from the n