One Small Word for "a" Man
Wednesday October 4, 2006
In 1969, I was working at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas as an admissions clerk. I was invited to one of the nurse's units upstairs to watch history being made: man's first steps on the Moon. Yes, even to a naive 19 year old, it was a monumental event. I will never forget the pride I felt when Neil Armstrong came down that ladder, and although the picture was a little fuzzy, it was as clear as it needed to be. I knew that he was going to say something memorable, and I thought I would never forget his riveting statement:
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Well, now, it seems that I may have not heard exactly what Armstrong really said. Did I hear the same thing the other 500 million people did. It was grammatically incorrect! Or was it? He didn't put an "a" before the "man, " or did he? I know my hero couldn't have blown it. How dare him? In a moment like this, with all the world watching and hinging on every word. Armstrong has since said that he meant to say "for a man, " but even he is not quite sure what he actually said.
“Damn, I really did it. I blew the first words on the Moon, didn't I?” he is reported to have asked officials later, amid uncertainty as to whether he had blown the moment or simply been drowned out by static interference as his words were relayed 250,000 miles back to Earth. Now, just possibly Neil has been freed of this enormous guilt. Peter Shann Ford, an Australian computer expert, says he has found the missing "a." Well...here is my final analysis of the problem. Does it really matter? We knew what he meant, and yeah, he is still a hero to me. To see the whole story, see One small word is one giant sigh of relief for Armstrong
(Image © NASA)
Comments
Todays comentary…
It does not matter what Neil Armstrong said on the moon,because he said it on the moon… What more do you want?
He is still a hero in my eyes for going deep into space and putting his self and the others in harms way and that is true, because you never know what could happen way up there in space.
To me that was an amazing feet of bravery and of course a great historical event in it’s self.
But you know what?
I know what would have been an even better addition to what he said.{Hey! I see a alien space ship over by the rock hill and they are watching every move we make!}Sorry though! That would have been blurred out or simply not added.I believe though someone did say something of that nature,about something else they saw up there.Sorry though! it will never be talked about. You have to go and read that subject it in a book or two on aliens etc. There are many on the selves of book store and libraries to keep your imagination going on that subject. Anyway,thats life and life will go on even if we do have alien friends from the unknown, way out in space keeping an eye on what we are doing down here every day. For all we know.. They probably said the same thing….{Hey!That was a first step for man kind in space!}P.S.S.Just think about that one for a while!
He could have said, “Hey, I can see my house from here!!” and it would have been historic.
It may not be correct but I still like the words without the extra ‘a’. It was thrilling to be alive during the Apollo
Moon Landings.
I have said for years that on one of the test runs to the Moon before Apollo 11 landed, about 2-3 in the morning I was listening to a live talk between the astronauts and Houston when one of the astronauts said what is that flying with us! He sounded excited and I wondered what he was seeing and waited for more comments but the broadcast was stopped.
I have wondered all these years and just recently found some information from FEMA. I am including a few
EXCERPT FROM “FIRE OFFICER’S GUIDE TO DISASTER CONTROL”
A PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY - 1993
CHAPTER 13: ENEMY ATTACK AND UFO POTENTIAL
The Air Force, after 20 years of being deluged with UFO sightings and spending millions of dollars on their investigation, decided to drop the inquiry business and turned the project over to a Kensington, Maryland, group called NICAP (National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena). This left NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) with part of the task of trying to run UFO sighting reports, including many by its own Apollo and Skylab astronauts. By 1974 over a score of astronauts saw and photographed UFOs during their flights beyond the earth’s atmosphere.
Early in the Apollo 11 mission, which culminated in the moon walk, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins reported sightings of what seemed to be a UFO during the first half of their flight to the lunar surface. There were many more sightings by U.S. and Soviet Astronauts. On November 11, 1966, Gemini XII astronauts Jim Lovell and Edwin Aldrin said that they saw four UFOs linked together, and on October 12, 1964, three Russian astronauts aboard Voskod reported that they were surrounded by a “formation of fast-moving disc-shaped objects.”(45)
If our astronauts have seen these UFO’s that pretty much convinces me, that something/somebody is out there.
Did you know that Buzz Aldrin also fluffed his line when he stepped on the moon? He had a bet with someone that he’d say “That might have been a small step for Neil, but it was a pretty big one for a little guy like me”… when he actually said ” That might have been a small one for Neil, but it was a big one for me” I wonder if the guy paid up?
Just goes to show how really excited the guys were to be actally the first to ever step on the moon. It had to be awsome and scarey at the same time and nervous enough to blow the preestablished line they were to use.
They had so many unknowns to deal with while on the moon then the long quarantines after returning to Earth.
I would think it was a time of great joy and fun for them along with a lot of stress.
It was an exciting time for America, because we were showing up the Russians after they first had made us look bad. LOL
I hope I’m still around for the trips back to the moon and watching them build a city. Not sure I’ll be around to see people make it to Mars but it is a hope for our future.