A number of memorabilia, urban myths and incidental stories surround the Apollo 11 mission, including controversy of who actually stepped on the moon first, and a replica of the footprint. Apollo 11 was the fifth human spaceflight of the Apollo program, the third human voyage to the moon, and the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ...

Trivia

• Several books indicate that early mission timelines had Buzz Aldrin, not Neil Armstrong, as the first man on the Moon.^[1]
• A replica of the footprint left by Neil Armstrong is located in Tranquility Park in Houston, Texas; the park was dedicated in 1979, a decade after the first moon landing.
• The U.S. acknowledged the immense success of Apollo 11 with a national day of celebration on Monday, July 21, 1969. All but emergency and essential employees were allowed a paid day off from work, in both government and the private sector. Ironically, the last time the nation had done this was for a national day of mourning, on Monday, November 25, 1963, to observe the state funeral of President Kennedy -- the very person who had initiated the manned space program for America.
• The Australian movie, The Dish (2000), tells the (slightly fictionalised) story of how the images of the moon-walk were received by the radio telescope at Parkes Observatory, New South Wales.
• According to the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, Michael Collins made the following suggestion as to what Armstrong should say upon stepping onto the lunar surface: "If you had any balls, you'd say 'Oh, my God, what is that thing?' then scream and cut your mic."
• Armstrong claims to have said "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.", although the "a" is not at all clear in recordings made at ground control. It has been pointed out that the audio and video links were somewhat intermittent (partly due to storms near Parkes Observatory). Recently, digital analysis of the tape by NASA revealed the "a" may have been spoken, but obscured by static.^[2][3]
• In the British Comedy Show My Hero George and Janet's son chooses the name Apollo 11 or Ollie for short, because "It shows a link between two worlds" his father Geogre being an alien on the show.
• On September 16, 1962, the date Armstrong's selection as an astronaut was announced, his parents were flown to New York to appear on the television game show I've Got A Secret. After their secret was guessed, host Garry Moore commented "Wouldn't it be something if your son were the first man on the moon?" The episode has been shown on Game Show Network although Armstrong himself never saw it until his biographer brought him a copy of the tape.
• During the mission, the journey's impact on the media was temporarily threatened by the Chappaquiddick scandal, in which Ted Kennedy caused the death of Mary Jo Kopechne by driving off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island.
• Neil Armstrong's PPK (Personal Preference Kit) contained a piece of wood from the Wright Brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller, and a piece of fabric from its wing,^[4] a special diamond-studded astronaut pin which was originally given to Deke Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. The pin had been intended to be flown in Apollo 1, then given to Deke after the mission, but due to the disaster, the widows ended up giving the pin to him after the funerals. It was taken to the moon and back by Armstrong.^[5]
• In Aldrin's book Men from Earth he recounts one incident:

  We discovered during a long checklist recitation that the ascent engine's arming circuit breaker was broken off on the panel. The little plastic pin (or knob) simply wasn't there. This circuit would send electrical power to the engine that would lift us off the moon...We looked around for something to punch in this circuit breaker. Luckily, a felt-tipped pen fit into the slot. Colonel Buzz Eugene Aldrin, Sc. ... Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) is a former American astronaut, test pilot, and Naval Aviator who is widely known for being the first human ever to set foot on the Moon. ... Nickname: Space City Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Mayor Bill White Area    - City 1,558 km²  (601. ... JFK redirects here. ... you suck ... The 64 metre radio telescope at Parkes Observatory The Very Large Array, an interferometric array formed from many smaller telescopes, like many larger radio telescopes. ... The big dish The Parkes Observatory is a radio telescope observatory, 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. ... Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Const. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network with headquarters in New York City. ... A miniseries, in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO television miniseries (1998) co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick detailing the landmark Apollo expeditions to the Moon during the 1960s and early 1970s. ... Michael Collins (born October 31, 1930) is a former American astronaut and test pilot. ... A microphone, sometimes referred to as a mike or mic (both IPA pronunciation: ), is an acoustic to electric transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. ... The big dish The Parkes Observatory is a radio telescope observatory, 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. ... For the Foo Fighters song, see My Hero (song) My Hero is a British comedy. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Ive Got a Secret (abbreviated as IGAS) was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television and was created by Allan Sherman as essentially a knockoff of Whats My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952... Garry Moore (January 31, 1915 – November 28, 1993) was born in Baltimore, Maryland as Thomas Garrison Morfit. ... The Game Show Network (now known as GSN - The Network for Games) is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows, reality shows, and interactive television games. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, having served since November, 1962. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, having served since November, 1962. ... Mary Jo Kopechne (July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969) was an American teacher, secretary and administrator, notable for her death in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island in a car driven by Senator Ted Kennedy. ... Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Marthas Vineyard. ... An Astronaut Badge is a United States, awarded to military aviation pilots who have completed Astronaut training with NASA and performed a successful space flight. ... Deke Slayton prepares for a pre-mission test leading up to his Apollo-Soyuz flight Donald Kent Deke Slayton (March 1, 1924–June 13, 1993) was an American astronaut. ... Apollo One is the official name given retroactively to the Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) spacecraft, destroyed by fire during a training exercise on January 27, 1967, at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral) atop a Saturn IB rocket. ...

• In the American animated television series Exosquad, the Able Squad briefly visits the Tranquility Base during and after the Battle for the Moon.^[6]

Phaeton, leader of the Neosapiens Exosquad was a science fiction cartoon that ran on the USA network and Fox from September 1993 to May 1995. ... In the 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad, Exofleet was the commonly used name for all battle spaceships built by the humans of the Homeworlds. ... The 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad featured a number of planets most of them being terraformed or alternate versions of real planets of the Solar System, although some were definitively fictional. ...

Presidential Telephone Call

President Nixon spoke to Aldrin and Armstrong during their first walk on the surface of the moon.

Houston: ...We'd like to get both of you in the field-of-view of the camera for a minute. (Pause) Neil and Buzz, the President of the United States is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you. Over.

Armstrong: That would be an honor. Houston: All right. Go ahead, Mr. President. This is Houston. Out.

Nixon: Hello, Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House, and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you (garbled). For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one; one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth. (Pause)

Armstrong: Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but men of peace of all nations, and with interests and the curiosity and with the vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.

Nixon: And thank you very much and I look forward...All of us look forward to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.

Aldrin: I look forward to that very much, sir. (Pause)

References

Folklore

• At some point while on the moon Armstrong supposedly said "Good luck Mr. Gorsky". This story is untrue.^[7]
• Neil Armstrong apparently took a tartan where no tartan had been worn before. A tiny swatch of the Clan Armstrong plaid was affixed to his suit when he walked on the Moon^{[citation needed]}.
• Two main conspiracy theories surround the mission.
  • First, that the landing was a hoax, largely due to the fact that the flag was seen allegedly waving in the wind. This is generally discounted, although it has slowly grown in popularity, particularly since the release of the movie Capricorn One (1978), which portrays a NASA attempt to fake a landing on Mars.
  • Second, a less well known urban legend suggests that they were being 'watched' while on the Moon, and had seen alien vehicles in space. This grew in popularity after the book Someone else is on our Moon was published.^[8] Aldrin did indeed spot an unidentified object travelling relative to them late in the third day of travel; after discussions with Mission Control, they decided it was likely to be the discarded S-IVB booster, some 6,000 miles distant. ^[8] Later reports often describe this as a "UFO sighting", or claim that the sighting was "covered up".^{[9] [10]} Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, now 76,said in a television documentary [1]:

"There was something out there, close enough to be observed, and what could it be?... Now, obviously the three of us weren't going to blurt out, 'Hey, Houston, we've got something moving alongside of us and we don't know what it is, you know?... We knew that that those transmissions would be heard by all sorts of people and somebody might have demanded we turn back because of aliens or whatever the reason is." [2] A tartan is a specific woven pattern that often signifies a particular Scottish clan in the modern era. ... Clan map of Scotland Scottish clans give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relatives throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the heraldry and Coat... A conspiracy theory attempts to explain the ultimate cause of an event (usually a political, social, or historical event) as a secret, and often deceptive, plot by a covert alliance of powerful people or organizations rather than as an overt activity or as natural occurrence. ... Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong in NASAs training mockup of the Moon and lander module. ... Capricorn One is a horror/thriller/science fiction movie about a Mars landing hoax. ... Urban legends are a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ... UFO can mean: Unidentified flying object United Future Organization, a Japanese-Brazilian electronic jazz band UFO, the rock band that previously featured Michael Schenker UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV series United Farmers of Ontario, a political party that formed the government in Ontario from 1919 to 1923 U.F.O... Colonel Buzz Eugene Aldrin, Sc. ...

• According to another legend, a survey undertaken in the 1980s in Morocco revealed that a substantial percentage didn't think humans had landed on the Moon; this was not due to conspiracy theory, but rather to that segment not having been informed^{[citation needed]}.

References

1. ^ Chaikin, Andrew (1998). A Man on the Moon. Penguin Group. ISBN 0140272011.
2. ^ Adams, Cecil. Did astronaut Neil Armstrong muff his historic "one small step" line?.
3. ^ One Small Step at snopes.com
4. ^ Hansen, James R. (2005). First Man, 527.
5. ^ Deke!: An Autobiography, Deke Slayton, p.191-2
6. ^ Exosquad episode 2.34 summary at Patrick Danner's website, last retrieved on 27 August 2006
7. ^ Good luck, Mr Gorsky! at snopes.com
8. ^ ^a b LunarAnomalies.com.
9. ^ Buzz had to fix Moon Lander with Biro.
10. ^ Man on Moon : we saw a UFO.