posted 09-27-2009 04:40 PM               

The plaque reads quite simply:

The signatures of Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and President Richard Nixon are etched below those words.

William Safire, James C. Humes and Pat Buchanan collaborated on the Apollo 11 plaque message content. Alexis Johnson at the State Department had drafted the idea of the plaque for the Moon. It featured two hemispheres of the Earth with no boundaries between nations. The men then encountered several challenges to drafting the plaque.

An earlier draft stated "First Landed" on the Moon, however, intelligence sources indicated that the Russians had possibly landed an unmanned probe there already. Therefore, Pat Buchanan suggested, "First Set Foot On The Moon", which emphasized the point well.

There was some arguing over the words, "Under God", which was rejected due to the doctrine of separation of Church and State. Instead the letters A.D. (anno Domini, which means the year of our lord) were added. This conveyed some religious meaning without being overtly offensive to other religions.

The plaque was read aloud by Neil Armstrong as 600 million people watched the historic first lunar landing on July 20, 1969.

posted 09-27-2009 07:20 PM               

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.