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Apollo 11 - Contingency television address

Apollo 11 - Contingency television address: Encyclopedia II - Apollo 11 - Contingency television address

The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has a copy of the following contingency memo titled "In Event of Moon Disaster" and dated July 18, 1969, which was prepared by William Safire for President Nixon to read on television, in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded 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 tha ...

Apollo 11: Encyclopedia II - Apollo 11 - Contingency television address

Apollo 11 - Contingency television address

"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."

The last line of the statement is reminiscent of a Rupert Brooke poem called "The Soldier". The poem starts:

If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England.

Following this address, radio communications with the moon would have been cut off, the astronauts left alone to die, while a clergyman was to commend their souls to "the deepest of the deep" in the fashion of a burial at sea.

Aldrin stands next to the Passive Seismic Experiment Package with the Lunar Module in the background.

Aldrin inspects the LM landing gear.

Aldrin unpacks experiments from the LM.

Aldrin with the U.S. flag

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Contingency television address", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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