“That’s one small step for (a) man …”
I was 21 and a university student when Apollo 11 went to the moon and astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. As President of my Students Union, I kept the building open all night so that we could witness live this utterly historic event. So I mourn Armstrong’s death.
But what did he really say as his feet touched the surface of the moon for the first time? There are several accounts here.
August 26th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Re what Armstrong really said as his feet touched the surface of the moon for the first time, it’s less well known that before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.”
Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, they found there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.
Over the years, many people have questioned him as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant. On August 7, 1995, in Houston, TX, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. He finally responded. It seems that Mr. Gorsky had died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question. When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors’ bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”
August 26th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Why are there so few pictures of Neil Armstrong on the moon? See here for an explanation.
August 27th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Nick, the story about Mr Gorsky seemed too good to be true and sadly it is false:
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.asp
August 27th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Indeed, Roger, that’s where I copied the story from! I also made a few minor changes.