One giant death for mankind.
One detail about Mr. Armstrong with which you may not be familiar comes from this Arthur Clarke "Playboy" interview with Ken Kelley, July 1986:
On Neil Armstrong's statement, "That's one small step for man, one giant step for mankind"?: 'I took him up on that statement afterward, because he dropped out the "A." It was supposed to be "That's one small step for a man." He just fluffed it. When I talked with him about it later, he said, "That's what I thought I said, and that's what I meant to say."'
* Thanks, Jack. Too fast and too tired.
13 comments:
Should the first word in the title be "one," instead of "once?"
Just wondering if it's a typo.
I think it's better the way he said it.
Nostalgic for the time when America had big dreams and actually achieved them. Either saying, is good for me.
Remember that very well. There was some kerfuffle about the "man" v. "a man" thing at the time which was clearly just a fluff of what he had intended to say. Why do we make such a big deal out of small vocal errors? Everyone knew if was a huge achievement and that's what he wanted to highlight.
RIP Neil. You were one of our heroes.
Man 1969...I remember that day. I cant recall if they let us out of school..or we were already out for the summer..but I remember watching the black and white images..and Walter Cronkite.
It was a great break...from Nam videos and what in those days seemed like the monthly assassinations (to an 8 year old) Progress seemed assured. Damn NASA.. their big dreams and government funded magnificence....
I remember that day, just a few weeks shy of my 5th birthday, and it was REAL. It was REALLY HAPPENING. We headed over to my grandparents house in rural Kansas (which at that time was still part of the United States), and watched it all unfold in glorious black and white! Hard to imagine it happening from the vantage point of THESE United(?)States...
it wasn't may, it was july 20, 1969. and he actually DID say "for a man," but there was a crackle of static that bleached out the "a" and good ol' walter cronkite said, "i think he said that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and so it became.
remember it all vividly. i was at summer camp, and all the kids were huddled round a small black and white tv.
That day is burnt into my memory as well. Apollo 11 landed on the moon in the afternoon, but Neil didn't step out until nearly dark (maybe 9pm?). As a 12 year old and with his cousins from Chicago visiting our rural WI home, I was terrified they wouldn't let me stay up.
Not a chance, we all huddled around that old B&W TV and cheered when when it happened. My Dad and uncle (both WWII vets & POWs) celebrated with a drink. My dad only had one or two drinks per year, so I knew this was truly a big deal.
Safe travels in the beyond, Neil Armstrong.
damaged goods said...
"it wasn't may, it was july 20, 1969..."
Who said it was May?
Blackdaug started out "Man 1969..." which if you're reading on a small screen (iPad/smartphone) - or for that matter if you're over 50 and have, ahem, reading acuity issues - could be misread as "May 1969... I remember that day."
I remember an NPR segment a couple of years ago in which an audio engineer actually found that he said "A man" so faintly that it was just hard to hear over teh static.
That was good to know because the statement never made much sense to me before. When you add in "A man" than he makes a whole lot of sense and becomes deeply profound.
Let us initiate a movement to land men on the next ridge over from where Apollo 11 landed.
If nothing more than to place a monument on that hollowed ground.
Yet in this vulture capitalist society, I rather doubt that we have the sense of Honor required.
The quote from Clarke may be apocryphal since Neil Armstrong was extremely humble and never talked about the past or his part in this momentous journey. He knew he was merely one piece of the gigantic machinery of NASA and of this taxpayer financed project and that, once it was over, he needed to get on with the rest of his life.
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