Topic: Armstrong's first words: reason for the pause?
AstroAutos Member
Posts: 803 From: Co. Monaghan, Republic of Ireland Registered: Mar 2009
posted 09-03-2010 08:23 PM
I know there is no definite answer to this as we can't see into Neil Armstrong's mind, but...
My Dad and I had a discussion today about Armstrong's first words and how he paused after he said 'That's One Small Step for (a) Man' before going on to say 'One Giant Leap for Mankind.'
My Dad's opinion is that the reason he paused was because he knew he had said the line wrong by not including the 'a' making the first words on the Moon grammatically wrong.
I, however think that the pause was simply Armstrong catching his breath, taking in the moment and essentially coming to terms with the fact that he was now standing on the lunar surface.
Any opinions as to which it could have been?
golddog Member
Posts: 210 From: australia Registered: Feb 2008
posted 09-03-2010 08:34 PM
It never ceases to amaze me the constant analysis of Armstrong's words. The man himself has said they were basically made up on the spot and that he did not consider them to be of that much importance, yet we have seen years and years of analysis, claims the lines were fed to him by various people, and claims that leaving the "a" out made the statement non meaningful. The man was on live TV doing something unimaginable - it is understandable that he might have been a little tongue tied and awe struck, don't you think?
Rick Member
Posts: 379 From: Yadkinville, NC Registered: Jun 2000
posted 09-03-2010 08:42 PM
I am convinced that your dad is correct. I believe that he caught himself, and with no other choice, simply continued with the end of the phrase. I've always thought you could hear the "oops" in his voice as he concluded the statement.
For more, check out pages 13-14 of Chapter One in "Footprints in the Dust"!!!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-03-2010 09:18 PM
If you accept that Armstrong was in such a state that it caused him to misspeak a very simple phrase, then it is difficult to also believe he had the wherewithal about him to recognize he made the mistake mere seconds later.
Rather I think the pause is for the very same reason he misspoke: Armstrong was short on breath. Not only was he caught up in a very historic moment -- one he clearly recognized as such given his choice of first words -- but he had just hopped up and down a ladder ("Takes a pretty good little jump..."). From the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal:
At the start of the EVA, Armstrong's heart rate had been about 120 beats per minute and it had declined more or less steadily toward a low of about 80 as he took pictures at the rim of the crater east of the spacecraft...
For comparison, during the Saturn V launch, Armstrong's heart rate was measured at 109 beats per minute.
golddog Member
Posts: 210 From: australia Registered: Feb 2008
posted 09-03-2010 09:48 PM
I am not trying to suggest that Armstrong was in "such a state" - merely suggesting that the moment may have rendered him a little tongue tied. He himself has indicated his belief that he was not "articulate". We have all been in situations, such as job interviews, getting married, making speeches, where the importance of the moment has left us tongue tied or saying a word the wrong way - look at the cap com Charlie Duke - "Twankwility"
For my mind that they could navigate to the moon using the technology of the time, and land several tons successfully on the surface, is far more an impressive achievement than the saying of a few words. I am merely pointing out my belief that the constant analysis of what Armstrong said as he stepped on to the surface is not warranted.
328KF Member
Posts: 1251 From: Registered: Apr 2008
posted 09-04-2010 03:35 PM
quote:Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: Rather I think the pause is for the very same reason he misspoke: Armstrong was short on breath...
I tend to agree that this was the case. Keep in mind that the suit operated at a pressure of about 3.8 PSI. So the astronaut felt as if he were exerting himself at 33,000 ft pressure altitude, albeit in pure oxygen.
If you listen to Gene Cernan's transmissions at the end of his last EVA, which was made after a considerable amount of running around, he is really huffing and puffing too.
My experience as a lowlander going up into the mountains is that I become winded very quickly, but also recover quickly once I stop.
So maybe Neil should have given himself a breather before speaking his lines!
moorouge Member
Posts: 2458 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
posted 09-04-2010 04:09 PM
quote:Originally posted by AstroAutos: My Dad's opinion is that the reason he paused was because he knew he had said the line wrong by not including the 'a' making the first words on the Moon grammatically wrong.
Why does leaving out the 'a' make it grammatically incorrect? It is perfectly acceptable if 'Man' is taken to be the human race and there is only one of them. Thank goodness...!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-04-2010 04:13 PM
quote:Originally posted by moorouge: It is perfectly acceptable if 'Man' is taken to be the human race...
Which would then mean that Armstrong repeated himself -- 'man' and 'mankind' -- hence it being considered an error.
moorouge Member
Posts: 2458 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
posted 09-04-2010 05:37 PM
So Armstrong repeated himself. There are those who would argue that it added to the majesty of the moment. 'Man'/'Mankind', does it really matter? It was his Shakespeare moment, though with Celtic blood I think Dylan Thomas would have approved also.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-04-2010 05:56 PM
Error or not, Armstrong acknowledges that he meant to say -- and at the time, thought he had said -- "a man." His intent was to distinguish between his personal "small step" and the "giant leap" he was taking on behalf of all of (hu)mankind.
ejectr Member
Posts: 1758 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 09-04-2010 07:03 PM
Let's all just be thankful that the first words from the moon weren't ..."Charlie...I got the farts again"...
AstroAutos Member
Posts: 803 From: Co. Monaghan, Republic of Ireland Registered: Mar 2009
posted 09-04-2010 07:06 PM
quote:Originally posted by ejectr: "Charlie...I got the farts again"
Now that would have gone down in history!
ilbasso Member
Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
posted 09-04-2010 07:17 PM
I like to think that Armstrong realized the historical importance of what he was about to say - no matter what it was going to be - and that he spoke deliberately to ensure that the words came through clearly.
Even as a lecturer 41 years later, he speaks very clearly, at a measured pace and with excellent diction.
Jay Chladek Member
Posts: 2272 From: Bellevue, NE, USA Registered: Aug 2007
posted 09-06-2010 10:40 PM
As I recall, there was some analysis last year of the recordings that Armstrong apparently said the "a" afterall, but it blended with "man" a bit so it sounded like it wasn't there.
Who cares if it wasn't grammatically correct if the "a" was left out. To me, it sounded better without the "a" as it rolls off the tongue better and sounds a little more poetic in my opinion. Besides, you want correct grammar, send either an Englishman or an English teacher to the moon. But you need a great test pilot to land on it the first time and Armstrong was that person.
I've paused at trying to come up with memorable words at the spur of the moment in the midst of doing other things. I don't necessarily think he was too out of breath for that to cause the pause. More likely he had other stuff on his mind. In that moment, he was standing on the leg of the LM, looking around at his surroundings, checking to see if he could get back up, evaluating the LM visually to see if anything might hinder their return to orbit or locate anything he might either want to tell engineers about later and/or photograph, mentally check the timeline, feel if his suit's cooling gear was working properly with the effort expended getting down and listening for anything wrong with the PLSS system in its delivery of oxygen to him, be it in a fan sounding off or an alarm.
At the same time, he's also trying to get used to balancing in real lunar gravity instead of just a simulation and also thinking about how to not only step off the footpad, but away from the LM and not risk taking a belly flop into the lunar soil on national TV (provided the soil could support his weight and balance without any unpredicted results).
He's also maybe thinking ahead to getting the lunar soil contingency sample as well in case something forces him to come back to the LM and scrub the EVA.
Thinking about what he was going to say was not the ONLY thing he was doing. As such, I think we can cut him some slack in the supposed loss of an "a" and a pause as he goes into the next line.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-06-2010 10:51 PM
quote:Originally posted by Jay Chladek: As I recall, there was some analysis last year of the recordings that Armstrong apparently said the "a" afterall, but it blended with "man" a bit so it sounded like it wasn't there.
In 2006, with a great deal of attendant media attention, journalist/ entrepreneur Peter Shann Ford claimed to have located the 'a' in the waveform of Neil's transmission. Subsequently, more rigorous analyses of the transmission were undertaken by people with professional experience with audio waveforms and, most importantly, audio spectrograms. None of these analyses support Ford's conclusion.
328KF Member
Posts: 1251 From: Registered: Apr 2008
posted 09-06-2010 11:13 PM
I was at the Newseum in Washington D.C. in 1999 for the 30th anniversary of Apollo 11. Tim Russert interviewed the crew that day, and one thing I always remembered was that he got Armstrong to quote himself, probably the only time I've ever heard him do it.
I just found the clip on YouTube, and you can listen to Armstrong, although caught off guard somewhat by Russert, recite his line 30 years after the original words were spoken.
Even when I listen closely, I have a hard time picking up the "a" when he says it. It's there, but it gives you some idea of his dialect and why it might be difficult to hear through the static in 1969.
music_space Member
Posts: 1179 From: Canada Registered: Jul 2001
posted 09-08-2010 10:30 AM
Remember Armstrong's words just before THE words: "I'm going to step off the LEM now...".
Thus, "One step for a man..." was the intention.
MarylandSpace Member
Posts: 1353 From: Registered: Aug 2002
posted 09-08-2010 12:17 PM
I had never seen the Russert interview before. What a wonderful interaction with four brilliant Americans.
I really enjoyed it.
rasorenson Member
Posts: 101 From: Santa Clara, CA, USA Registered: Nov 2009
posted 09-08-2010 12:54 PM
Perhaps... he began the lines as he was reaching his foot out beyond the LM footpad and the pause could be a time when he was trying to turn and bend (in the bulky suit) to see where he was planting his boot and/or taking an instant until he had his boot firmly planted in the lunar soil. Just a guess. If I were the first human to step onto another celestial body, I'd want to look down at where I was putting my foot.
posted 09-03-2010 08:23 PM
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