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Forum:	Mercury - Gemini - Apollo
Topic:	"One small step" revisited: Scripted or ad-libbed

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by 328KF: [B] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: [b]Though it was a well-kept secret at the time, he sought permission to name the landing site "Tranquility Base." And based on his statements about taking more pride in the landing than the first step, Armstrong may have considered his call out, "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed," as more historic than his "small step" quote.[/b][/QUOTE] I'd like to expand on Robert's point a bit. According to multiple sources, Armstrong took great care to keep his planned announcement of the landing site name secret. According to Andy Chaikin's book: <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]For the landing, Armstrong gave some though to quotes; before the flight he and Aldrin decided that if they reached the lunar surface they would use the call sign "Tranquility Base"--"base" to connote exploration. They told only Charlie Duke, lest the first words from the moon take him by surprise--"Say again, Apollo 11?" And when it finally happened, Armstrong found himself adding quite spontaneously, "The Eagle has landed."[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE> So even though it was planned and only known by a few, it didn't go off without a hitch. (Duke initially responded with "Roger Twang...") Now if Armstrong had a fully prepared and planned statement ready for his first step, doesn't logic follow that he would have shared that with, at the very least, Capcom Bruce McCandless? It seems that if he were concerned with getting it correct or not having anyone ruin it for history by talking over him, he would have taken equal precautions. Armstrong was a unique person, as has been well documented. As a pilot, he saw a landing as the historic moment, not the step off of the vehicle which he landed, regardless of where he landed it. Many other famous and lesser pilots likely understand this. Did Orville Wright or Lindbergh or Yeager make a planned statement after stepping out of their flying machines? No, but they didn't have a live TV audience of millions waiting to hear what they had to say, either (Lindbergh was quoted as saying simply, "Well, I made it," when the crowds reached his aircraft). Armstrong was fully aware of this, yet for all of these decades the memories of everyone close to Armstrong and the mission have agreed... he did not have a formal statement prepared. I think it is a little late to start rewriting history now, or perhaps too early, based upon one 40+ year old recollection. Thinking toward the future, I hope that the next person to step on the moon, or an asteroid, or Mars, is equally spontaneous. I often found the prepared and read remarks following shuttle landings to pretty long-winded. I know there will be pressure, and probably more so in that he or she will have to follow up Neil's quote. But I would leave it to the person to find something appropriate, rather than it going through some approval process at NASA HQ. And if that astronaut wants to run it by me in advance, I promise I'll never tell anyone. :D[/B][/QUOTE]
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