Ceremony held to rename facility to honor Armstrong

SANDUSKY — Sen. Rob Portman’s first attempt at renaming the Plum Brook testing facility was not met with enthusiasm by the guy who would lend his name to the site.

Portman recalled that conversation Wednesday during the ceremony that officially retitled the facility, which is part of NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center, from Plum Brook Station to the Neil A. Armstrong Testing Facility. The senator said the idea came to him in 2011, but when he reached out to the astronaut, Armstrong demurred.

“He said, ‘I don’t need that,’” Portman said, telling the story of calling Armstrong with the idea to rename the Plum Brook Station after him.

The idea was on hold until a few years after Armstrong’s death in 2012. Portman reached out to his friend’s family to ask if they would support an effort to rename the facility.

“The family said yes,” Portman said, noting he would have stopped again had they said no.

But naming the facility still made sense. Portman said. Armstrong was “a proud son of Ohio, whose character we want to hold up for future generations.” Portman introduced the legislation that authorized the name change.

Portman said Armstrong believed his reward was the chance to serve his country, and didn’t feel the need to be in the spotlight.

“We’re not exactly following his wishes,” Portman said, “but we’re following ours” to honor a man who served with grace, humility and humanity.

All of the speakers at the renaming ceremony spoke on variations of that theme — that Armstrong was a true American hero who served his country well throughout all his endeavors. On hand for the event were Dr. Marla Perez-Davis, director of the Glenn Research Center; Sen. Bill Nelson, NASA administrator; Col. Pamela Melroy, NASA deputy administrator; U.S. Representatives Marcy Kaptur, Jim Jordan and Anthony Gonzales; and local elected officials. A congratulatory letter was read from Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Representing the Armstrong family was the astronaut’s youngest son, Mark, who said those Mercury and Apollo space missions served to open the world to the idea that all things are possible.

“That is more empowering than any scientific advancement,” he said. “It’s more empowering than the transistor. It’s more empowering than the computer. Because it’s unlimited. And that’s what we have to remind people.”

He thanked Portman for his efforts to honor his father.

“It is our family’s hope that the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility will continue to vault us forward for faster and safer aerospace transport,” he said, “and this new name will be a beacon for the best, the brightest and perhaps most importantly, the most determined.”

The facility is a great example for everything Armstrong tried to do during his life,” his son said.

“He was always very thoughtful and committed to making flight faster and better in every way,” the younger Armstrong said, urging the media to continue to tell the story of space flight and exploration. “There’s still a lot to do in space. We don’t want to be playing catchup. I think this administration is ready to do it.”

NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility is a remote site for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Located on 6,400 acres in Sandusky, it is home to some of the world’s largest and most capable space simulation test facilities, where ground tests are conducted for the U.S. and international space and aeronautics communities.