NASA Photo
Man landed on the moon 40 years ago today, an historic triumph for the US and NASA. But what if something had gone horribly wrong and Armstrong and Aldrin were stranded? Then-president Richard Nixon had a backup speech ready that began:
“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.”
According to Roger Bruns, author of Almost History, Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman suggested the just-in-case speech for Apollo 11 to presidential speechwriter William Safire. The speech is in the National Archives. Had disaster been the result, Nixon would have spoken four more paragraphs:
“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 their 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 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.”
According to Bruns, the president would have phoned the astronauts’ wives before the speech. After delivering it, the men on the moon would have shut down communications with earth and a clergyman would have conducted a ceremony commending their souls to the “deepest of the deep.”
h/t space.com
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
ella,
Looking across Clear Lake from my computer desk, I see the Johnson Space Center buildings and the flag flying. I have friends who work for NASA subcontractors, and always am seeing folks in line at the grocery store with their JSC badges, mission patches and tee-shirts that say things like “Hubba Hubba Hubble”.
Nasa and the space program are just part of life, until something happens – good or bad – and then we all stop again, and think.
I knew nothing of this speech. I’m so glad you posted it. It helps to bring home in a different way how wonderful the accomplishment was.
shoreacres´s last blog ..Godot, Meet Godette
Hi, shore! That’s a cool view to have. I’ve been gaga for the space program all my life. I’m always amazed by how small the old space capsules, even the shuttle, are when I’ve gotten to see them in person. I don’t know how the astronauts do it, but then I don’t know where the bravery comes from either.
I’m glad you enjoyed this. I love hidden history and was happy to be able to write something positive about Nixon. For once.
If the Air and Space Museum sells Hubba Hubba shirts, I’m getting one!
Wow, ella! I had no idea this speech was extant. It gave me chills! The incredible bravery still gets to me, and now, in the present, they are together here on earth; not left behind on the moon; with the President, at press conferences, and in our hearts. {eyes welling up. sniffle sniffle.}
MusEditions´s last blog ..Mooning on Moonday
It is hanky time, isn’t it? I got gooseflesh the first time I read the speech. I couldn’t help but think of the astronauts we really have lost, especially the three who died on the ground in the 60’s and of course Christa McAuliffe. She’s buried here in NH, in Concord, not far from the planetarium that now bears her name. By all accounts here she really was beloved.
Where’s my hanky?