There are many Neils and many Armstrongs...so someone was bound to mess it up.
NBC News was the first to report that astronaut and first man on the moon Neil Armstrong had died, but its website initially called him Neil Young by accident!
So to clarify, rocker Neil Young is perfectly alive - although he often looks decidedly otherwise these days!
Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was the iconic astronaut who passed away last Saturday aged 82, after he suffered complications
from heart surgery.
And then, in another error, it was written that Neil had stepped out of the space shuttle rather than the lunar module, until someone pointed out the error. In 1969, Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the first ever to reach the moon - conspiracy theorists will forever debate that fact.
The other great debate is over what Armstrong actually said: was his walk on the moon one small step for man, or 'a' man? His first words from the moon were heard all over Earth, thus:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
But Armstrong said immediately after the landing that he'd been misquoted. He said he actually said, "That's one small step for 'a' man." It's just that people didn't hear it. He acknowledged when he listened to a recording that he didn't hear himself say it either: "The 'a' was intended. I thought I said it. I can't hear it when I listen on the radio reception here on Earth, so I'll be happy if you just put it in parentheses."
Although no one in the world heard the 'a', research backs Armstrong. In 2006, a computer analysis found evidence that Armstrong said what he said he said. An Australian computer programmer ran a software analysis looking at sound waves and found a wave that would have been the missing 'a'. It lasted 35 milliseconds, much too quick to be heard...but it was there, just like Armstrong was back in July 1969.
Debate THAT.
NBC News was the first to report that astronaut and first man on the moon Neil Armstrong had died, but its website initially called him Neil Young by accident!
Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was the iconic astronaut who passed away last Saturday aged 82, after he suffered complications
from heart surgery. And then, in another error, it was written that Neil had stepped out of the space shuttle rather than the lunar module, until someone pointed out the error. In 1969, Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the first ever to reach the moon - conspiracy theorists will forever debate that fact.
The other great debate is over what Armstrong actually said: was his walk on the moon one small step for man, or 'a' man? His first words from the moon were heard all over Earth, thus:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
But Armstrong said immediately after the landing that he'd been misquoted. He said he actually said, "That's one small step for 'a' man." It's just that people didn't hear it. He acknowledged when he listened to a recording that he didn't hear himself say it either: "The 'a' was intended. I thought I said it. I can't hear it when I listen on the radio reception here on Earth, so I'll be happy if you just put it in parentheses."
Although no one in the world heard the 'a', research backs Armstrong. In 2006, a computer analysis found evidence that Armstrong said what he said he said. An Australian computer programmer ran a software analysis looking at sound waves and found a wave that would have been the missing 'a'. It lasted 35 milliseconds, much too quick to be heard...but it was there, just like Armstrong was back in July 1969.
Debate THAT.
I feel privileged to have been alive to witness Armstrong's great feat.
ReplyDeleteThere'll be nothing like it again in my lifetime.