Talk:Neil Armstrong

First words on the Moon - link dead and a dubious claim

The article claims that the famous "One small step..." was inspired by "a train of thought that Armstrong had after launch and during the hours after landing". Excuse me, wasn't it Norman Mailer who had devised the sentence (on an explicit commission from NASA) to make sure the words would fit the solemn occasion ; they didn't want Neil to step out and say "Uhhmm, looks good, hello earth...it ain't made of cheese either!" And if I'm not completely wrong, some magazine had asked a number of writers and celebrities what they would have suggested as the first words on the moon. Anyway, the link (note no.52) for this statement is dead. I'll see if I can verify that it was Mailer who came up with the famous quote. Armstrong does sound on the tape like he is saying something memorized.Strausszek (talk) 13:30, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I remember watching a television documentary that specifically covered this, and you're correct... unfortunately, I can't recall what show it was. I do remember that the story was that he struggled with, nearly forgot, and messed up part of the speech. He denies that he messed up at all of course, but I'm certain that there is a reliable source detailing the whole thing.
— Ω (talk) 14:01, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah, hah! see: Talk:Neil Armstrong/Archive 1#Oldest posts
— Ω (talk) 14:12, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

If someone scripted Armstrong's comments, they managed to keep it very firmly off the record; every reliable source I've seen is fairly clear that they were his own & created privately, though various people had tried to get him to come up with something in advance, and there had been magazine features with "suggestions and ideas", etc.

The one we do have solid testimony for the background of is Conrad, on Apollo 12. He deliberately made a stupid joke when stepping onto the surface in order to win a bet with a journalist, who'd insisted he would be told what to say in advance. Shimgray | talk | 15:01, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm sure I've heard it was indeed scripted and Mailer is the guy who's been mentioned. I won't add it unless I can locate a reputable source for it, of course. There remains the problem that the link for that point is dead, though, and this affects several other statements in that section I think - they were taken from the same source.Strausszek (talk) 16:40, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Didn't Armstrong use the phrase '...one VAST leap for Mankind', not '.....one GIANT leap for Mankind' ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.155.45.93 (talk) 12:37, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

...no. There's a recording in the article, if you want to hear it for yourself.
— Ω (talk) 18:09, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Totally agree! He definitely says "...vast leap...". 'Giant' is two syllables and only one is discernable. You can also easily detect the 'st' ending of the word which can't possibly be the end of the word 'giant' no matter how you might try to imitate his accent. If we're right about the most famous statement ever made in the English language (or perhaps any language), why has all the fuss been about a missing 'a' and not a completely incorrect word? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jhorwood (talk • contribs) 21:26, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

GA Reassessment

This discussion is transcluded from Talk:Neil Armstrong/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the reassessment.

Notified: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Biography, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Human spaceflight, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spaceflight, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Space, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cincinnati, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aviation/Aerospace biography task force, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aviation, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Scouting, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ohio, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history, Evil Monkey (talk · contribs), Vsmith (talk · contribs), Shimgray (talk · contribs), MBK004 (talk · contribs), Andy120290 (talk · contribs), Lars T. (talk · contribs)--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 04:04, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Delisted--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:00, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I am reviewing this article as part of GA Sweeps. In order for this article to retain its WP:GA designation, it will need some attention. It needs to be brought up to current standards enumerated at WP:WIAGA. I find the following issues to be problematic:

• There are citation needed tags within the article.
• In addition, there are several entire paragraphs of uncited material. Please include at least on inline citation for each paragraph.
• Please fix the disambiguation link

• Titan II GLV link disambiguated.
  — V = I * R (talk) 04:44, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

• Please fix all the deadlinks
• Many images have {{personality rights}} templates, which seems to be a template available at commons. However, the following do not and I do not know why: File:Pilot Neil Armstrong and X-15 -1 - GPN-2000-000121.jpg, File:Armstrong and Scott with Hatches Open - GPN-2000-001413.jpg, File:Apollo 11 crew in quarantine.jpg, File:Quincy Jones, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong during NASA's 50th anniversary gala.jpg, File:Apollo 11 - Crew at the White House.jpg, File:Neil Armstrong 2004.jpg

• Done. Colds7ream (talk) 17:39, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

• Please make all images compliant with WP:ALT.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:55, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

As these concerns are addressed, I may add more. I will complete my review after a week.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:50, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Armstrong's first words after stepping on the moon

I remember watching the moon landing as it was originally broadcast and remember a slightly different version of Armstrong's first words. The preparation for the EVA was being conducted in a manner that has become familiar to the world. The astronauts were exchanging brief comments with CAPCOM as they went down their checklist with added 'color' comments thrown in as actual observations were compared with predicted. Neil Armstrong reported he was ready to leave the LEM and then, as he reached the bottom of the ladder, added a comment about the consistency of the lunar soil. This happened just as his foot settled into the dust but before he remembered his 'line'. At the time I was struck by how contrived and artificial the "one small step" statement sounded in the middle of the flow of scientific observation but I put it down to government's need to create a suitable soundbite (or at least what we would now call a soundbite). Since then I have been astonished at the extent to which the news media has sacrificed historical accuracy to NASA PR and practically obliterated the actual words to perpetuate the version the NASA had taken such great pains to prepare. Can't we get at least an acknowledgment that Neil Armstrong was a scientist so focused on his mission that he had to note the consistency of the moon's surface before taking a 'NASA commercial break' for the benefit of historical accuracy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.126.217.132 (talk) 05:17, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal is quite helpful here - it clarifies what he said and what he was doing at the time -

109:23:38 Armstrong: I'm at the foot of the ladder. The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. (The) ground mass is very fine.

109:24:13 Armstrong: I'm going to step off the LM now.

[Neil has his right hand on the ladder and will step down with his left foot, leaving his right foot on the footpad. ...]

109:24:48 Armstrong: That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.

[[After examining the soil disturbance around his left boot, Neil moves his right hand lower on the ladder and steps down with his right foot.]

109:25:08 Armstrong: Yes, the surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.

[At the end of this transmission, Neil lets go of the ladder for the first time.]

So he paused at the bottom, still on the ladder, made a comment about the soil, then stepped down and said his line at "first contact", as it were, then segued straight back into annotating the soil. There's a clear half-minute gap between him making his comment and saying he's stepping off, though, so it wasn't simultaneous; I can see how it'd seem like it was in memory, though! Shimgray | talk | 21:47, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Armstrong's last press conference before mission launch

I DISTINCTLY remember the last press conference (hours before launch?? -- the day before launch??) where a reporter asked Armstrong if he had any words that he planned to say at the momentous time of stepping on the moon? Armstrong responded with a very simple blank stare, a pause, and said 'No'. Then, two and a half days later, at the moment of truth on the Moon, he spoke his oft-quoted sentence. I'm positive that in the hours between the press conference and touch down there were MANY pencil-chewing sessions going on back at NASA, and maybe between the three on board astronauts, to come up with something appropriate. I'm disappointed that no one has made note of this in any of the biographies or histories of the Apollo program. (At least none that I have read of.) If those press conferences were taped, perhaps there's a record of this one somewhere.

63.194.45.199 (talk) 18:42, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Obvious error

It is completely obvious that he was supposed to say, "That's a small step for one man, a giant leap for mankind." He simply said "one" when he was supposed to say "a," then he had to leave out the other "one" because he had already said "one." This kind of thing understandably happens when words are pre-scripted and have to be remembered after a stressful situation. It amazes me that everyone doesn't know this.Lestrade (talk) 02:09, 18 July 2009 (UTC)Lestrade

Naval Aviator

Contrary to the acronym USAF below the photo of Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was a Naval Aviator United States Navy (USN) and retired as a Lieutenant Junior Grade from the US Navy Reserve. Please correct the acronym and change it to USN with a link to the Navy.mil page.—Preceding Glenn A. Taylor comment added by 66.78.171.116 (talk) 16:13, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

No change needed. The USAF reference in the caption is not to Armstrong's military service branch, it refers to the fact that he was an astronaut in a USAF-sponsored program. Similarly, NASA refers to his participation in the NASA Astronaut Corps. Rillian (talk) 17:47, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

White Sands and Lem

Would love to hear you thoughts in public again.

My Dad flew the F-105 in Rolling Thunder and as an instructor at the Air Force Academy post West Point and Harvard, said "Son you really want to see this".

I watched on the swingset and it was a good moon.

My simple Marine Officer opinion, show up to the random elementary school just for the heck of it. Am certain they need a visit and wouldn't know you from buckwheat. Later perhaps.

Chris Schroeder BA, MSA —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avalonstudio (talk • contribs) 02:07, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Error on the Neil Armstrong page!

Neils first wife died. However, in the personal section the following quote is listed. I submit it is incorrect.

Armstrong's first wife of 38 years, Janet, divorced him in 1994.[65] He met his second wife, Carol Held Knight, in 1992 at a golf tournament. Seated together at the breakfast, she said little to Armstrong, but a couple of weeks later, she received a call from him asking what she was doing. She replied she was cutting down a cherry tree, and 35 minutes later Armstrong was at her house to help out. They were married on June 12, 1994 in Ohio, and then had a second ceremony at San Ysidro Ranch in California.

Thanks... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.135.71.194 (talk) 17:46, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Any kids?

Does Armstrong have any kids? If so, that information should be added to the Personal Life section. Tad Lincoln (talk) 01:21, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

new picture, shows his face on the moon

I saw this picture (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/07/504x_neil-face_01.jpg), anyway we could incorporate this into the article?