Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenn Dawes
Hi Guys,
You know Armstrong's "On small step for Man...." was impressive, but I wonder how many of you reading this would have heard the last words spoken on the surface from Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17, at the end of the last EVA:
"Bob, this is Gene, and I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus- Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. "Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."
It turned out his "not too long in the future" was wrong, but overall quite inspirational. Especially to me as a 15 year old starry eyed boy listening to this live on the radio dreaming of being an astronaut one day! Oh well...
Glenn
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I did
. I have read Gene Cernan's Autobiography a few times now and love it.
I have read
First Man, Neil's Authorised biography, and he goes to great lengths to emphasise that no one was told of any of his first words. No one told him what to say. Neil is quite clear on that.
1. Incidently, to be technical, Buzz actually said the first words!!, not Neil.
Buzz said: "Contact Light", referring to the illuminated contact light which lit up when one or more of the sensors on the LM foot pads touched the surface.
2. There are no photos taken of Neil, by Buzz, whilst on the surface outside the LM, apart from the reflection of Neil in Buzz's sun visor in that famous image. It wasn't anything deliberate, it's just that it wasn't on Buzz's EVA checklist.
3. Neil had to reminded a number of times to "Get the contingency samples" (i.e. rocks) asap, because if they had to take off in an emergency, Mission Control wanted to ensure they had on board the most important samples of all time.
4. The famous foot print in the lunar dust is actually Buzz's.
Don't get me started on the Apollo program, I'll be here for days.