I’ve recently started watching For All Mankind, the alternate-history series where the Soviets reach the Moon first and the space race never ends. It’s gripping stuff – but it also sent me back to the real summer of 1969.
Most of us who are old enough remember exactly where we were when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. We watched, breathless, as two Americans planted their feet on another world. And we remember President Richard Nixon picking up the phone to speak directly to Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – a moment of pure national triumph.
But what if it had gone wrong?
What if the lunar module had failed to lift off? What if Armstrong and Aldrin had been left stranded on the Moon, with no hope of return? NASA had planned for that nightmare scenario too.
Buried in the archives is a document titled “In Event of Moon Disaster” – a speech written for Nixon to deliver to the American people and the world. It is haunting, dignified, and deeply moving.
Here is what it says:
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 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.
Before delivering the speech, Nixon was to telephone each of the widows-to-be.
After the speech, once NASA had ended communication with the stranded astronauts, a clergyman was to conduct a committal service – the same solemn words used for burials at sea – commending their souls to “the deepest of the deep,” and concluding with the Lord’s Prayer.
Reading this contingency plan is a sobering reminder of just how dangerous the Apollo 11 mission really was. We remember the triumph. We rarely remember how close we came to tragedy – and how gracefully the nation was prepared to mourn.
Damn interesting, isn’t it? It makes you look up at the Moon with a little more reverence.
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Uhm ….. as a space research sceptic ….. “when you look at the moon with a little more” wonderment of how these $BILLIONS would benefit the American voters much better if expended on state education, state hospitals, social housing and the Universal Basic Income (UBI) to reduce family stress.
Then there is the current restrictions of local & state government expenditure upon public infrastructure and public services.
Still …..it is what it is ….. a poorly educated, unhealthy society currently led by a geriatric, demented convicted criminal felon who prefers to blow up the American economy for his good mate Vlad the Lad Putin without so much as a Russian drone launched in anger towards Washington.
In another time they could have booked a room at Trump Tower.
20th July 1969 in the States, 21st in Australia, never forgotten, the day my father drove me down to Adelaide and put me on a bus to Coober Pedy and said, in essence, ‘fuck off, get out of my life, I don’t care what you do as long as you’re happy.’ I was a couple of months shy of 17.
The terms ‘best-practice parenting’ and its stable mate ‘good-enough’ don’t come near to this scenario. Poor man. I’ve spent more than fifty years coming to terms with the legacy of bad parenting and its inevitable consequences. In truth, I got off lightly compared to the kids who suffered deeply damaging childhood abuse… as Philip Larkin, the British poet, wrote in 1971:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Michael ….. do you think that these two ”bodies” were responsible for large face sculpture seen on early pics but ”quietly removed” from later copies??
NEC, Michael won’t be able to answer. His account here was hacked last night so he asked me to lock him/the hacker out. Once he creates a new account Carol and I will begin the arduous task of transferring all his material to the new Michael Taylor. Give us a day or two.
@ Roswell ….. Thanks for the advice. Always willing to wait for the editors.
Is it possible to track the hackers??
NEC, the hacker has been tracked down – it was Michael’s WordPress account that was hacked, and not his AIMN account. That presents extra problems, but I won’t bore you with them. I think I’ve chopped the hacker off at the knees, because if he does login to The AIMN he can’t do much as I’ve stripped away all his admin benefits. The only thing he can touch are the articles published in Michael’s name, which I’m about to transfer to a new Michael Taylor.
Roswell, a new Michael Taylor …..I hope Carol will be impressed.
A new improved model, NEC.
Taller. Younger. Smarter. Better looking.
Roswell …..Ah!!!!! but will the new model still enjoy fine red wines??
It becomes obvious, the two dead bodies on the moon are Artemis astronauts who wouldnt “measure up” and were dumped by the rest.
Depends on how I program him, NEC. Let’s go with this:
Taller, younger, smarter, better looking, drinks more and talks less.
You could also be describing me, Roswell. Are we now living in the age of replicates?
Not even close, Canguro. To be like you I’d have to give him generous doses of wisdom and compassion.
Mon Dieu, Roswell, I disagree! Michael is the epitome of wisdom and compassion. Many times I’ve bristled at some knuckle-dragger’s intemperate comments, only to then read MT’s mild reproach.
Nevertheless, thanks, you’re too kind.