Documentary alleges that Neil Armstrong fibbed about moon landing
Was one of America's greatest heroes a liar?
According to a new BBC documentary, liar might be a bit strong but apparently Neil Armstrong did fib a bit about his famous moon-landing speech.
In 'Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon,' the astronaut's brother Dean Armstrong says that Neil's famous "one small step for man" speech was not improvised and that Neil flubbed the line.
Dean was interviewed by the film crew three months after his brother passed away and said during his interview that Neil drew up a version of the speech months before the July 1969 Apollo expedition. Neil's famous speech said "'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
But Dean says that what Neil actually wanted to say was "That's one small step for a man." His proof? An early version of the speech that his brother showed him. And then apparently Neil said, afterwards, that the article was lost during the static of the broadcast and that he had actually said it.
A computer analysis showed that Armstrong did in fact say "a" before "man." However, Armstrong insisted up until his death that he had improvised the lines.
Whatever the case actually is, it is kind of a jerk move for his brother to come forward with this now, isn't it?
Really, what's the difference!?? Either way, a great sentiment! And he would have been an idiot not to have thought, ahead of time, about what he was going to say when he got there—and he was right because here we are, about 45 years later, still talking about it!
rtruell
Morning_Star: "Would it change the context?"
Yes, most assuredly. What he wanted to say was "That's one small step for a man.", meaning only *himself*. What he said was "That's one small step for man.", meaning *all of mankind*. That one tiny letter would have made a *vast* difference in the meaning of what was said. Given that the Russians were also trying for a moon landing at that time, I'm sure they weren't too pleased that he appeared to be speaking on *their* behalf.
Anamon
That Neil insisted he improvised the line is news to me. I'm pretty sure I once saw an interview with him where he said that he thought about what he was going to say for several days.
Morning_Star
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My honest thought is: who cares? Seriously, the whole debacle concerns a word - a word so small it's actually just a letter. Did he intend to wedge a single letter into his line? Would it change the context? Awkward, yes, but it's so bleeding trivial, don't you think?
"Neil's famous "one small step for man" speech was not improvised and that Neil flubbed the line"
How is this a revelation? We've know for *decades* that he flubbed the line and what it was that he *wanted* to say!
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