In the Shadow of the Moon
My favorite documentary of all time, "In the Shadow of the Moon," is a great tribute to the astronauts of the Apollo missions. At the 7:18 mark of the YouTube video below, it gives a majestic presentation of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.
At the 9:20 mark "CapCom" commander Charlie Duke describes his admiration for Neil Armstrong and Armstrong's famous words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
It was like Neil, but deeper than I thought that he would come up with. I wouldn't have had the self control to do that. To me, I'd have been jumping up and down. "Yahoo," you know. "Man, I'm here." That's the kind of response that I think I would have had. But he was very--very controlled. And those words came out, and they were very appropriate, and---perfect.
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Aug '12
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Great film. It's in my collection along with some other films and NASA films too. I've also done my share of reading about the early space program. I remember watching all the NASA footage on t.v. as a child. Those were great days. Neil Armstrong appeared to have spent his life as a quiet, humble man. RIP.
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
How true. Well put.
Aug '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Thanks for that bittersweet moment .
Mankind as hero .
Present administration on a much different course .
Jul '12
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
On a space exploration note, here is a series of informal interview questions with the engineering team behind the mars curiosity misson.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ybmmh/we_are_engineers_and_scientists_on_the_mars/
Disclaimer: the code of conduct over there is not like Ricochet's.
Edited on August 26, 2012 at 12:42amMay '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Yes, that was something extraordinary about him. You would expect the first man on the moon to be lauded and popular. He went back to Ohio, after a short time at NASA, and lived a quiet life. With few exceptions, you never heard about him.
It's said they chose him because he didn't have a big ego. They chose...wisely.
Edited on August 26, 2012 at 12:54amJan '12
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Why are we still HERE!
May '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
I loved it when Duke told Armstrong, "Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."
Aug '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
A wiser man described " the right stuff ".
May '11
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Armstrong is my personal hero.
I wish NASA were still the group of professionals they were back then. Unflappable.
As much as I admire the curiosity lander I can't help but be annoyed at the childish displays of emotion in the control room. Also, everything NASA does seems aimed at children and not so much at adults.
I watched the Apollo missions as a kid, including Apollo 11. I believed that when I was an adult traveling to the moon would be an everyday event. It's not. I figure the reason they cater almost exclusively to kids today is because of the disillusionment of my generation.
May '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
actually the words don't quite make sense, since "man" and "mankind" mean about the same thing. He should have said "a man" and maybe he did and it was lost in the noise.
Sep '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Made my 8 and 6 year old boys watch and they were slightly interested. Not near as much as I wanted them to be. It occurred to me that this was probably the high water mark for using technology for some higher purpose and ever since we've been using it for more consumption and entertainment than anything else...as a free market guy I've got to reconcile that fact in my head somehow.
May '11
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Higher purpose? Jingoism is a higher purpose? It was and remains an incredible feat but it was hardly done for a lofty reason.
Sep '11
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
Actually, he did later say that he meant to say "a man" and was always annoyed that he 'misspoke'... My misspeak would have been unprintable!
Oct '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
http://yhoo.it/QJOP68
"But then, in 2006, computer programmer Peter Shann Ford might have vindicated Armstrong.
Ford downloaded the audio recording of the moon man's words from a NASA website and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate via computers using their nerve impulses.
In a graphical representation of sound waves of the famous sentence, Ford said he found evidence that the missing "a" had been spoken after all: It was a 35-millisecond-long bump of sound between "for" and "man" that would have been too brief for human ears to hear."
and,
"I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford's analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful," Armstrong said in a statement. ''I also find his conclusion persuasive. Persuasive is the appropriate word."
May '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
dittoheadadt: I think he said "One small step fr'a man...".
Oct '10
Re: In the Shadow of the Moon
If you say that out loud, it absolutely sounds right, and makes sense!