Editing Neil Armstrong (section)

==== First Moon walk ====
{{See also|Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations}}
[[File:Apollo 11 Landing - first steps on the moon.ogv|thumb|right|Armstrong describes the lunar surface.]]
{{Listen
| filename     = Frase de Neil Armstrong.ogg
| title        = "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind"
| description  = 
| format       = [[Ogg]]
}}
The flight plan called for a crew rest period before leaving the module, but Armstrong asked for this to be moved to earlier in the evening, [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Houston time]]. When he and Aldrin were ready to go outside, ''Eagle'' was depressurized, the hatch was opened, and Armstrong made his way down the ladder.{{sfn|Cortright|1975|p=215}} At the bottom of the ladder, while standing on a [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] landing pad, Armstrong said, "I'm going to step off the LM now". He turned and set his left boot on the lunar surface at 02:56 [[UTC]] July 21, 1969,{{sfn|Harland|1999|p=23}} then said, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."<ref name="Snopes">{{cite web |last1=Mikkelson |first1=Barbara |first2=David |last2=Mikkelson |title=One Small Misstep: Neil Armstrong's First Words on the Moon |date=October 2006 |website=Snopes.com |url=http://www.snopes.com/quotes/onesmall.asp |access-date=September 19, 2009}}</ref> The exact time of Armstrong's first step on the Moon is unclear.<ref>{{cite web | last=Stern | first=Jacob | title=One Small Controversy About Neil Armstrong's Giant Leap | website=[[The Atlantic]] | date=July 23, 2019 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/tiny-imprecision-heart-apollo-11/594556/ | access-date=July 25, 2019 | quote=When he tried to match the air-to-ground transcript to an audiovisual recording, he found that the transcript was behind—and that one of the records had to be wrong about the time of Armstrong's first step.}}</ref>

Armstrong prepared his famous [[epigram]] on his own.<ref name="Plimpton" /> In a post-flight press conference, he said that he chose the words "just prior to leaving the LM."<ref>{{cite web |title=Apollo 11 Post Flight Press Conference, 16 September 1969 |url=https://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/FirstLunarLanding/ch-7.html |publisher=NASA |access-date=July 24, 2015 |quote=Yes, I did think about it. It was not extemporaneous, neither was it planned. It evolved during the conduct of the flight and I decided what the words would be while we were on the lunar surface just prior to leaving the LM. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016015011/http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/FirstLunarLanding/ch-7.html |archive-date=October 16, 2015}}</ref> In a 1983 interview in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine, he explained to [[George Plimpton]]: "I always knew there was a good chance of being able to return to Earth, but I thought the chances of a successful touch down on the moon surface were about even money—fifty–fifty{{nbsp}}... Most people don't realize how difficult the mission was. So it didn't seem to me there was much point in thinking of something to say if we'd have to abort landing."<ref name="Plimpton">{{cite magazine |last=Plimpton |first=George |author-link=George Plimpton |title=Neil Armstrong's Famous First Words |magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=December 1983 |pages=113–118}}</ref> In 2012, his brother Dean Armstrong said that Neil showed him a draft of the line months before the launch.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Richard |title=Neil Armstrong's family reveal origins of 'one small step' line |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/9770712/Neil-Armstrongs-family-reveal-origins-of-one-small-step-line.html |access-date=July 24, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=December 30, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701041241/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/9770712/Neil-Armstrongs-family-reveal-origins-of-one-small-step-line.html |archive-date=July 1, 2015}}</ref> Historian [[Andrew Chaikin]], who interviewed Armstrong in 1988 for his book ''[[A Man on the Moon]]'', disputed that Armstrong claimed to have conceived the line during the mission.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chaikin |first1=Andrew |title=Neil Armstrong Didn't Lie About 'One Small Step' Moon Speech, Historian Says |url=http://www.space.com/19136-neil-armstrong-moon-speech-truth.html |website=[[Space.com]] |access-date=July 24, 2015 |date=January 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724160705/http://www.space.com/19136-neil-armstrong-moon-speech-truth.html |archive-date=July 24, 2015 |publisher=Purch}}</ref>

Recordings of Armstrong's transmission do not provide evidence for the indefinite article "a" before "man", though NASA and Armstrong insisted for years that static obscured it. Armstrong stated he would never make such a mistake, but after repeated listenings to recordings, he eventually conceded he must have dropped the "a".<ref name="Snopes" /> He later said he "would hope that history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable and understand that it was certainly intended, even if it was not said—although it might actually have been".{{sfn|Nickell|2008|p=175}} There have since been claims and counter-claims about whether acoustic analysis of the recording reveals the presence of the missing "a";<ref name="Snopes" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Goddard |first=Jacqui |title=One small word is one giant sigh of relief for Armstrong |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=October 2, 2006 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/one-small-word-is-one-giant-sigh-of-relief-for-armstrong-8ffrjd0s6wz |access-date=December 31, 2012 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Peter Shann Ford]], an Australian computer programmer, conducted a digital audio analysis and claims that Armstrong did say "a man", but the "a" was inaudible due to the limitations of communications technology of the time.<ref name="Snopes" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Ford |first=Peter Shann |title=Electronic Evidence and Physiological Reasoning Identifying the Elusive Vowel "a" in Neil Armstrong's Statement on First Stepping onto the Lunar Surface |website=collectSPACE|date=September 17, 2006 |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-100306a.html |access-date=August 28, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015424/http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-100306a.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Software Finds Missing 'a' in Armstrong's Moon Quote |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=October 1, 2006 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/30/moon.quote.ap/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004151135/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/30/moon.quote.ap/index.html |archive-date=October 4, 2006 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Ford and [[James R. Hansen]], Armstrong's authorized biographer, presented these findings to Armstrong and NASA representatives, who conducted their own analysis.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith |first=Veronica |agency=Agence France-Presse |title=Armstrong's Moon landing speech rewritten |magazine=[[Cosmos (Australian magazine)|Cosmos]] |date=October 2, 2006 |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/717 |access-date=August 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831202457/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/717 |archive-date=August 31, 2007}}</ref> Armstrong found Ford's analysis "persuasive".<ref>{{cite news |last=Carreau |first=Mark |title=High-tech analysis may rewrite space history |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=September 29, 2006 |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4225505.html |access-date=September 30, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004192255/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4225505.html |archive-date=October 4, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Hear what Neil Armstrong really said on the moon | last=Carreau | first=Mark |newspaper=Houston Chronicle | date=September 30, 2006 | url=https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Hear-what-Neil-Armstrong-really-said-on-the-moon-1862496.php | access-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref> Linguists [[David Beaver]] and [[Mark Liberman]] wrote of their skepticism of Ford's claims on the blog [[Language Log]].<ref>[[Language Log]]s:
* {{cite web |first=David |last=Beaver |author-link=David Beaver |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003630.html |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |title=One small step backwards |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072803/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003630.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |ref=none}} (including audio)
* {{cite web |first=Mark |last=Liberman |author-link=Mark Liberman |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003632.html |title=One 75-millisecond step before a "man" |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072810/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003632.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |ref=none}}
* {{cite web |first=David |last=Beaver |author-link=David Beaver |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003634.html |title=Armstrong's abbreviated article: the smoking gun? |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072811/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003634.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017|ref=none}}
* {{cite web |first=David |last=Beaver |author-link=David Beaver |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003635.html |title=Armstrong's abbreviated article: notes from the expert |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072827/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003635.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017|ref=none}}
* {{cite web |first=David |last=Beaver |author-link=David Beaver |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003639.html |title=First Korean on the moon! |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072825/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003639.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017|ref=none}}
* {{cite web |first=Mark |last=Liberman |author-link=Mark Liberman |website=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003645.html |title=What Neil Armstrong said |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072829/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003645.html |archive-date=November 8, 2017|ref=none}}</ref> A 2016 peer-reviewed study again concluded Armstrong had included the article.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baese-Berk |first1=M. M. |last2=Dilley |first2=L. C. |last3=Schmidt |first3=S. |last4=Morrill |first4=T. H. |last5=Pitt |first5=M. A. |year=2016 |title=Revisiting Neil Armstrong's Moon-Landing Quote: Implications for Speech Perception, Function Word Reduction, and Acoustic Ambiguity |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |number=9 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0155975 |pmid=27603209 |pmc=5014323 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1155975B|doi-access=free  |issn = 1932-6203}}</ref> NASA's transcript continues to show the "a" in parentheses.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Eric M. |title=One Small Step, time 109:24:23 |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/a11.step.html |access-date=December 18, 2012 |website=Apollo 11 Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102060848/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/a11.step.html |archive-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

When Armstrong made his proclamation, [[Voice of America]] was rebroadcast live by the [[BBC]] and many other stations worldwide. An estimated 530{{nbsp}}million people viewed the event,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html |title=Apollo 11 Mission Overview |publisher=NASA |access-date=March 4, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209204039/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html |archive-date=February 9, 2018 |date=April 17, 2015}}</ref> 20 percent out of a world population of approximately 3.6{{nbsp}}billion.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stuckey |first=Alex |date=October 29, 2018 |title='Giant leap' for space collectibles: Neil Armstrong's personal collection goes on auction block |url=https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Giant-leap-for-space-collectibles-Neil-13345916.php |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 26, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DVD/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/1_Population/WPP2017_POP_F01_1_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.xlsx |publisher=United Nations Population Division |title=Total Population—Both Sexes |access-date=April 7, 2018 |format=xlsx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730155936/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DVD/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/1_Population/WPP2017_POP_F01_1_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.xlsx |archive-date=July 30, 2017}}</ref>{{nbsp}}

{{Quote box
| quote = Q: Did you misspeak?

A: There isn't any way of knowing.

Q: Several sources say you did.

A: I mean, there isn't any way of ''my'' knowing. When I listen to the tape, I can't hear the 'a', but that doesn't mean it wasn't there, because that was the fastest VOX ever built. There was no mike-switch — it was a [[Voice-operated switch|voice-operated key or VOX]]. In a helmet you find you lose a lot of syllables. Sometimes a short syllable like 'a' might not be transmitted. However, when I listen to it, I can't hear it. But the 'a' is implied, so I'm happy if they just put it in parentheses.
| source = ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'', June 1982, p. 126
}}

[[File:As11-40-5886.jpg|thumb|left|Armstrong on the Moon|alt=A grainy picture from behind of a human figure in white space suit and backpack standing in front of the Lunar Module on the surface of the Moon. A landing leg is visible and the U.S. flag on the descent stage.]]
About 19{{nbsp}}minutes after Armstrong's first step, Aldrin joined him on the surface, becoming the second human to walk on the Moon. They began their tasks of investigating how easily a person could operate on the lunar surface. Armstrong unveiled a plaque commemorating the flight, and with Aldrin, [[Flag planting|planted]] the [[Lunar Flag Assembly|flag of the United States]]. Although Armstrong had wanted the flag to be draped on the flagpole,{{sfn|Chaikin|2007|p=212}} it was decided to use a metal rod to hold it horizontally.{{sfn|Johnson|2008|p=60}} However, the rod did not fully extend, leaving the flag with a slightly wavy appearance, as if there were a breeze.{{sfn|Hansen|2012|pp=503–504}} Shortly after the flag planting, President [[Richard Nixon]] spoke to them by telephone from his office. He spoke for about a minute, after which Armstrong responded for about thirty seconds.{{sfn|Hansen|2005|pp=505–506}} In the Apollo 11 photographic record, there are only five images of Armstrong partly shown or reflected. The mission was planned to the minute, with the majority of photographic tasks performed by Armstrong with the single [[Hasselblad]] camera.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.5886.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728042723/http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.5886.html |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |date=July 28, 2011 |title=AS11-40-5886 |last1=Jones |first1=Eric M. |website=Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |url-status=dead |access-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref>

After helping to set up the [[Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package|Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package]], Armstrong went for a walk to what is now known as East Crater, {{convert|65|yd|m}} east of the LM, the greatest distance traveled from the LM on the mission. His final task was to remind Aldrin to leave a small package of memorial items to Soviet [[List of cosmonauts|cosmonauts]] [[Yuri Gagarin]] and [[Vladimir Komarov]], and Apollo{{nbsp}}1 astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Eric M. |last2=Glover |first2=Ken |title=EASEP Deployment and Closeout |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.clsout.html |website=Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=March 28, 2014 |at=111:36:38 |year=1995 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225025455/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.clsout.html |archive-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref> The Apollo 11 EVA lasted two and a half hours.<ref name="ApolloSum" /> Each of the subsequent five landings was allotted a progressively longer EVA period; the crew of [[Apollo 17]] spent over 22{{nbsp}}hours exploring the lunar surface.<ref name="ApolloSum">{{cite web |title=Summary Data on Apollo Missions |publisher=NASA |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4214/app5.html |access-date=May 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117134054/http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4214/app5.html |archive-date=January 17, 2012}}</ref> In a 2010 interview, Armstrong explained that NASA limited their Moon walk because they were unsure how the [[space suit]]s would cope with the Moon's extremely high temperature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/10469-neil-armstrong-explains-famous-apollo-11-moonwalk.html |title=Neil Armstrong Explains His Famous Apollo 11 Moonwalk |website=Space.com |date=December 10, 2010 |access-date=October 14, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802234446/http://www.space.com/10469-neil-armstrong-explains-famous-apollo-11-moonwalk.html |archive-date=August 2, 2013}}</ref>