On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. The following speech, revealed in 1999, was prepared by Nixon’s then speechwriter, William Safire, to be used in the event of a disaster that would maroon the astronauts on the moon:

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. (Source: Watergate.info)

“THE RIGHT STUFF” all right!

(can we call that one “TRUTHER CONSEQUENCES?”)

I wanna see the Gaffer go tell Buzz Aldrin he wants to “debate” with him, heh heh heh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ez-NpFVwQw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.debbieschlussel.com%2F&feature=player_embedded

H/T – Debbie Schlussel’s blog
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/07/sad_but_true_vi.html

? ? ? ? ?

I’ve seen him get desperate before, but that nutty comment takes the cake.

Does the moon really exist?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTKedyQQkZQ&feature=related

Good suggestion. Buzz is an amazing guy. It’s a shame that Armstrong seems so shy – I can appreciate that the fame has it’s downside and daily hassle it would cause – but still. Oh well. Anyway I liked the way Buzz dealt with one of those foolish people who claim the landing was fake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Magnificent-Desolation/Buzz-Aldrin/e/9780307463456

But again, that would be tangential to our observation of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.

The topic here is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the moonlanding. NOT UFO’s!

lol – so the personal recollections of Buzz Aldrin – 1 of the 3 astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission is apparently off topic whilst what ISP I use isn’t. How utterly bizarre!

@Yonason

What’s to “debate” about remembering a great technological achievement?

Sure – so during all these celebrations there have been NO debates surrounding this amazing achievement. Because I mean what is there to debate? lol <sarcasm off? Like whether to go back to the moon or go to mars. About the nature of celebrity in contrasting Armstrong with Aldrin. About whether the cost of space travel is worthwhile. And so forth. This is a political website which has plenty of discussion. I think that makes you the humourless IDIOT if you fail to see this.

“..seems you both need a bit of stroking of your ruffled feathers.”

Yoiu keep your grubby little paws away from my feathers, or you just might lose ‘em – I’m that “sensitive”.

There he goes, again…
.”..to spark debate” ? ? ? ?

Say what? Why? What’s to “debate” about remembering a great technological achievement? You really are a complete idiot. (And I doubt it was 9%. Probably more like 90%)

UPDATE – GaffaUK has kindly permitted me to release his address to America in honor of the moon landing, …just to spark an honest “debate.”

The topic here is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the moonlanding. NOT UFO’s!

I suppose if I put up a post about UFO’s you would want to know what we thought about the rising price of eggs!

C’mon guys stop being so sensitive.

Firstly – seems you both need a bit of stroking of your ruffled feathers. The Apollo 11 was a tremendous achievement not just of mankind but in particular the USA. A country I am actually very fond of and like to go on holiday there when I can. The moon landing will be remembered for many centuries – probably forever in human achievement. I just hope we can go further – as it’s been a while – but the challenges of humans of going to say Mars is massive but I believe we – as a species – will crack it.

Secondly – it wasn’t intended a snide comment at all. I threw it in there to spark debate. As it’s fascinating detail not often known. Now I’m skeptical of aliens coming to earth – they seem to like Utah I lot. But anyway I do believe out there – there are other intelligent species – it’s just that space is so vast. And then again – we don’t know what technology they have developed – as an aircraft would seem unbelievable to a cave-man.

As for Asperger’s – that pretty low – even for you Yonason. What was your score? I’ll give them a go later – but I remember doing such an online test a while back for fun and getting I think it was 9% – so maybe I’m just naturally annoying to people like you.

Yeah, but then again, maybe he was just “debating?”

Or, maybe he’s an extreme ASPIE? (A lot of the geekier types are, though some of us can conceal it better than others – or we just think we can)

I (conveniently) forget what my score was, but you can get some idea by taking this test…
http://aq.server8.org/

….or this one….
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Actually, if he is an ASPIE (highly likely given his choice of profession) it’s entirely possible he really may not even realize he’s such a pain in the butt (even despite our frequently telling him same).

Oh, and being an ASPIE isn’t in itself a “bad” thing, it’s just what one does with it…
http://aspiesinc.blogspot.com/2006/10/famous-aspies.html

Surely our socialist loving friend is aware that a UFO does not necessarily mean an alien craft.

Or maybe he’s not aware of that and thinks we are all under alien mind control.

I sometimes wonder if he is.

OK, youi are capable of finding things, if you want to. Now, lets review your initial question…
“Didn’t Aldrin later claim they spotted an UFO?”
…in order to ask what you meant by it, and whether that video supports your implied insult or not.

So, what did you mean by it? …that he was a fruitcake? …like “wasn’t he the guy who talked to the Pillsbury Dough Boy?”

I can’t see any other reason for you to just throw that out. But when you watch the video you so easily found, you realize (or should) that he wasn’t a fruitcake at all, because they all saw it, and even took pictures of it. NASA even took it seriously, and well they should because they had no idea whether it was a potential threat or not.

So, what was your point? if you hadn’t meant it to be a snide insult, what did you mean? Being childishly insulting is, after all, your style. And if that was what you meant, thank you for demonstrating what a clearly idiotic comment it was in the first place, which you should have realized had you found and correctly understood that video BEFORE posting.

Of course, it it wasnt an intended insult, WHAT WAS YOUR POINT?