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."
It's hard to believe that this was over 37 years ago.
I was about to say there was no "static" during "one small step for(a)man", but there is a little bit in the background. I don't think it obscures his voice, though. The audio is of reasonable quality, even if less than perfect. It's just that he races over it. It's an elision, really, but it's still there, like the grin of the Chesire Cat.
The article claims it's objectively decipherable from the audio, but words are subjective, after all is said and done.
When you say "man" it leads off with a "nasal stop" - a little grunt - like "(um)an". "a" is said "uh" - a "glottal stop" - so "fer uh man" is hard to discern from "fer (um)an".
Blame it on Cronkite. Or anybody else in the media. They repeated it wrong!
Huzza for Buzz! First West Pointer on the Moon. Go Army, Beat Navy!
Can anyone please identify the make, model, and year of the lead car in that picture? It's a beauty.
47 posts and no mention of Mr. Gorsky!
LOL
That's the first thing I thought of. I was beginning to think no one would mention it.
That's how I always understood it. With the "a" the meaning is totally changed - less profound in my opinion.
I still think he should have sung the Purdue fight song. And I'm an IU grad.
First guess: Desoto. Looks a bit old for the year 1969; I'd say about a '58.
.
Besides permanently sending us back to Earth's Moon and then soon on to the Planet MARS,
President BUSH has promised:
Freedom's Return to...
Communist Vietnam
Communist North Korea &
Communist Cuba
as well as
Freedom's Arrival to...
All the Countries of the Middle East
...as America's own best self-proteciton against future terrorist attacks here at home.
Thus, EVERYONE really is coming along for the ride.
AR
.
Heard it again last night. He had two awkward pauses right after he knew he blew his lines. His speaking coach submitted his resignation immediately rather than be associated with the controversy sure to follow. Armstrong would have been better off if he had stopped delivering momentous lines after 'The Eagle has landed.'
Or "Deke".
Thanks for the educated guess. They sure made them pretty back then!
The "Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Imperial_Parade_Phaeton
that thing HAS a Hemi
Chrysler... Probably 58 or 59.
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