In case you didn’t know this little tidbit of trivia, on July 20, 1969 as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon.
His first words after stepping on the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” were televised to earth and heard by millions. But just before he re-entered the Lander, he made the enigmatic remark – “Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky!. Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut.
However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.
Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the – “Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant. But Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil Armstrong felt he could now answer the question.
In 1938, when he was a kid in a small mid-western town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in his neighbor’s yard, by their bedroom window. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard
Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. “SEX! You want SEX?” You’ll get SEX when the kid next door walks on the MOON!”
True story. It broke the place up.
Only thing I’d fix is that Armstrong’s first words were “Housotn, Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed”. And THEN he said “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
Houston - my home, and I’m proud of it - was the first word spoken by man from another planetary body.