Neil Armstrong
“One small step”

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Thumbnail of Buzz Adrin on moon in space suit, stepping at bottom of ladder of the the lunar module

Buzz Aldrin (source)

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

— Neil Armstrong

Said as he stepped onto the Moon at 10.56 (G.M.T) on July 21st 1969.

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The scripted line, prepared for Neil Armstrong to deliver as he stepped from the ladder of Apollo 11’s landing module onto the lunar surface was slightly different. It included one more small word, the indefinite article, “a”. It clearly makes more sense if spoken as:

“That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.”

Yes, it was a slip of the tongue, quite understandable in the excitement of the moment. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong tried to correct the record in the transcript, and it has been reported that NASA even invented the fiction that “static” had caused the apparent loss of the “a” in the transmission. It was recalled in the form “a man” when published in the book, First on the Moon.

It has also been stated that reporters present at Mission Control in Houston at the time of the live broadcast, discussed what they thought they had actually heard, and agreed they would all report in agreement just the one form of the quote—with “by man” and not “by a man.”

Years later, no reliable technological analysis of the original recording has been able to find the missing “a” and Armstrong conceded that despite so much rehearsal, even believing at first he must have said it correctly, the truth was it was not spoken.

But, who would not wish to accept both versions, the one recorded, and the one intended?

This text by Webmaster, summarizes the greater amount of explanation given (with references) in the article, 'One Small Misstep', on the snopes.com website. (source)

Neil Armstrong quote Probability of survival

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See also:

Science Quotes by Neil Armstrong.
5 Aug - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Armstrong's birth.
Neil Armstrong - context of quote “One small step” - Large image (800 x 400 px)
Neil Armstrong - context of quote “Probability of survival” - Medium image (500 x 250 px)
Neil Armstrong - context of quote “Probability of survival” - Large image (800 x 400 px)
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, by James R. Hansen. - book suggestion.

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)