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Neil Armstrong's Moon Quote Earns an 'A'
NewsMax ^ | 9/30/06 | AP

Posted on 09/30/2006 3:11:28 PM PDT by wagglebee

That's one small word for astronaut Neil Armstrong, one giant revision for grammar sticklers everywhere.

An Australian computer programmer says he found the missing "a" from Armstrong's famous first words from the moon in 1969, when the world heard the phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The story was reported in Saturday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.

Some historians and critics have dogged Armstrong for not saying the more dramatic and grammatically correct, "One small step for a man . . ." in the version he transmitted to NASA's Mission Control. Without the missing "a," Armstrong essentially said, "One small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind."

The famous astronaut has maintained he intended to say it properly and believes he did. Thanks to some high-tech sound-editing software, computer programmer Peter Shann Ford might have proved Armstrong right.

Ford said he downloaded the audio recording of Armstrong's words from a NASA Web site and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate through computers using their nerve impulses.

In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, Ford said he found evidence that the missing "a" was spoken and transmitted to NASA.

"I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford's analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful," Armstrong said in a statement. "I also find his conclusion persuasive. Persuasive is the appropriate word."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abigwhocaresbolded; aisforahole; apollo11; icare; moonwalk; nasa; neilarmstrong; nobodycares; slownewsday; thisissilly; whotruelycares
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To: wagglebee

You didn't read what I wrote.

There are NO still pictures of Armstrong on the moon. Armstrong had the only camera, and he didn't take any of himself. All the pictures are of Aldrin.

These pictures and others showing Armstrong are from video extracts from the remote camera set up for earth viewers or from a movie camera mounted on the LEM.


101 posted on 10/01/2006 10:14:34 AM PDT by oldbill
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To: oldbill

I'm confuses, this picture shows them both.


102 posted on 10/01/2006 10:16:50 AM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: ALOHA RONNIE

Thanks for the ping!


103 posted on 10/01/2006 10:31:41 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: wagglebee

It's a single frame from the TV camera they set up on the moon to send video back to earth.

There are film movies from the LEM and these videos of both of them but NO PHOTOGRAPHS of Armstrong on the moon.

If you want a quality print of Armstrong you are out of luck - they don't exist.


104 posted on 10/01/2006 1:06:32 PM PDT by oldbill
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To: oldbill

Okay, I thought you meant any images, not quality single photos.


105 posted on 10/01/2006 1:09:15 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: the anti-liberal
"That's one giant leap for a man, one small step for mankind."

It could've been. He was on the moon 'fer chrissake. All he had to do was stand on the last step and leap about 100 feet through the "air." It would've been awesome. I've never really forgiven him for that. ;-)

106 posted on 10/01/2006 5:44:30 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

He might've been afraid he'd fly off into space. I'd be!


107 posted on 10/01/2006 6:14:07 PM PDT by the anti-liberal (OUR schools are damaging OUR children)
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To: wolficatZ; Erasmus; Poser
The "Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Imperial_Parade_Phaeton

That's the one! I was hoping it would be something I could find in a junk yard. It's a shame that there were only three ever made.

108 posted on 10/01/2006 8:55:19 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus
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To: wagglebee

Small world I took my daughter out to get ice cream tonight and on whim I went out of my way and drive past a house Neal and his family lived in.

Well the Irish managed to get by Purdue this weekend but we are still up two to zero for men on the moon.


109 posted on 10/01/2006 8:59:17 PM PDT by Boiler Plate (Mom always said why be difficult, when with just a little more effort you can be impossible.)
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To: wagglebee
Then there is this infamous (and false) Urban legend..but its fun...so here it is again:

When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement but followed it by several remarks, usual com traffic between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he re-entered the lander, however, 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, FL) 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 finally died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question. When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball which landed in the front of his neighbor's bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. & Mrs. Gorsky.

As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Oral sex! You want oral sex?! You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

110 posted on 10/02/2006 4:10:03 AM PDT by Vaquero ("An armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: wagglebee
"Peter Shann Ford ran the Nasa recording through sound-editing software and clearly picked up an acoustic wave from the word “a”, finding that Mr Armstrong spoke it at a rate of 35 milliseconds — ten times too fast for it to be audible." (One small word is one giant sigh of relief for Armstrong

How does one manage to speak a word so fact that no one can hear it with the naked ear?

111 posted on 10/02/2006 9:31:55 AM PDT by topcat54
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To: luigi

That story isn't true, obviously, but it should be. :'D Buddy Hackett apparently wrote it, or at least first performed it, according to Neil.


112 posted on 10/03/2006 8:57:21 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (If I had a nut allergy, I'd be outta here. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Revolting cat!

Not even close to being the first, otherwise there wouldn't have been any memorable quotes from WWII other than "Nuts to You" from the 101st. :')


113 posted on 10/03/2006 8:59:29 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (If I had a nut allergy, I'd be outta here. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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