Have a look at this video of Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon and listen carefully to what he says. The video was shot on July 21st 1969 at 0256 GMT. Since then, people have been perplexed at Armstrong’s exact words. He seems to be saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” What he had planned to say was this: , “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The a makes all the difference. Without it, the statement makes no sense as it means “That’s one small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind.” It’s repetitive. The a brings out the contrast between the individual and the whole human race. The a gives the statement its grandeur and universal significance. Armstrong says he came up with the phrase sometime between the lunar landing and his historic first EVA from the LEM. Since he uttered the phrase, he has been accused of having botched it by omitting the a . Armstrong himself has never been sure whether he got it right or not.
Thirty-seven years later, we finally have the truth. An Australian computer programmer, Peter Shann Ford, has analyzed the original audiotapes from NASA and proven that the missing a is indeed there. He used audio editing software called GoldWave to show the a was spoken but that because of static was never recorded by Armstrong’s microphone. Always nice to have the record set straight.
(This story was first reported in the Houston Chronicle and can be found here.)
Joseph Froncioni
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