Apollo 11 in popular culture

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A number of memorabilia, urban myths and incidental stories surround the Apollo 11 mission, including controversy of who actually stepped on the moon first, and a replica of the footprint.

1 Trivia
2 Presidential Telephone Call
3 Folklore
4 References

[edit] Trivia

Several books indicate that early mission timelines had Buzz Aldrin, not Neil Armstrong, as the first man on the Moon.^[1]
A replica of the footprint left by Neil Armstrong is located in Tranquility Park in Houston, Texas; the park was dedicated in 1979, a decade after the first moon landing.
The U.S. acknowledged the immense success of Apollo 11 with a national day of celebration on Monday, July 21, 1969. All but emergency and essential employees were allowed a paid day off from work, in both government and the private sector. Ironically, the last time the nation had done this was for a national day of mourning, on Monday, November 25, 1963, to observe the state funeral of President Kennedy -- the very person who had initiated the manned space program for America.
The Australian movie, The Dish (2000), tells the (slightly fictionalised) story of how the images of the moon-walk were received by the radio telescope at Parkes Observatory, New South Wales.
According to the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, Michael Collins made the following suggestion as to what Armstrong should say upon stepping onto the lunar surface: "If you had any balls, you'd say 'Oh, my God, what is that thing?' then scream and cut your mic."
Armstrong claims to have said "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.", although the "a" is not at all clear in recordings made at ground control. It has been pointed out that the audio and video links were somewhat intermittent (partly due to storms near Parkes Observatory). Recently, digital analysis of the tape by NASA revealed the "a" may have been spoken, but obscured by static.^[2]^[3]
In the British Comedy Show My Hero George and Janet's son chooses the name Apollo 11 or Ollie for short, because "It shows a link between two worlds" his father Geogre being an alien on the show.
On September 16, 1962, the date Armstrong's selection as an astronaut was announced, his parents were flown to New York to appear on the television game show I've Got A Secret. After their secret was guessed, host Garry Moore commented "Wouldn't it be something if your son were the first man on the moon?" The episode has been shown on Game Show Network although Armstrong himself never saw it until his biographer brought him a copy of the tape.
During the mission, the journey's impact on the media was temporarily threatened by the Chappaquiddick scandal, in which Ted Kennedy caused the death of Mary Jo Kopechne by driving off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island.
Neil Armstrong's PPK (Personal Preference Kit) contained a piece of wood from the Wright Brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller, and a piece of fabric from its wing,^[4] a special diamond-studded astronaut pin which was originally given to Deke Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. The pin had been intended to be flown in Apollo 1, then given to Deke after the mission, but due to the disaster, the widows ended up giving the pin to him after the funerals. It was taken to the moon and back by Armstrong.^[5]
In Aldrin's book Men from Earth he recounts one incident:

We discovered during a long checklist recitation that the ascent engine's arming circuit breaker was broken off on the panel. The little plastic pin (or knob) simply wasn't there. This circuit would send electrical power to the engine that would lift us off the moon...We looked around for something to punch in this circuit breaker. Luckily, a felt-tipped pen fit into the slot.
In the American animated television series Exosquad, the Able Squad briefly visits the Tranquility Base during and after the Battle for the Moon.^[6]

[edit] Presidential Telephone Call

President Nixon spoke to Aldrin and Armstrong during their first walk on the surface of the moon.

Houston: ...We'd like to get both of you in the field-of-view of the camera for a minute. (Pause) Neil and Buzz, the President of the United States is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you. Over.

Armstrong: That would be an honor. Houston: All right. Go ahead, Mr. President. This is Houston. Out.

Nixon: Hello, Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House, and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you (garbled). For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one; one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth. (Pause)

Armstrong: Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but men of peace of all nations, and with interests and the curiosity and with the vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.

Nixon: And thank you very much and I look forward...All of us look forward to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.

Aldrin: I look forward to that very much, sir. (Pause)

[edit] Folklore

At some point while on the moon Armstrong supposedly said "Good luck Mr. Gorsky". This story is untrue.^[7]
Neil Armstrong apparently took a tartan where no tartan had been worn before. A tiny swatch of the Clan Armstrong plaid was affixed to his suit when he walked on the Moon^{[citation needed]}.
Two main conspiracy theories surround the mission.
- First, that the landing was a hoax, largely due to the fact that the flag was seen allegedly waving in the wind. This is generally discounted, although it has slowly grown in popularity, particularly since the release of the movie Capricorn One (1978), which portrays a NASA attempt to fake a landing on Mars.
- Second, a less well known urban legend suggests that they were being 'watched' while on the Moon, and had seen alien vehicles in space. This grew in popularity after the book Someone else is on our Moon was published.^[8] Aldrin did indeed spot an unidentified object travelling relative to them late in the third day of travel; after discussions with Mission Control, they decided it was likely to be the discarded S-IVB booster, some 6,000 miles distant. ^[8] Later reports often describe this as a "UFO sighting", or claim that the sighting was "covered up".^[9] ^[10] Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, now 76,said in a television documentary [1]:

"There was something out there, close enough to be observed, and what could it be?... Now, obviously the three of us weren't going to blurt out, 'Hey, Houston, we've got something moving alongside of us and we don't know what it is, you know?... We knew that that those transmissions would be heard by all sorts of people and somebody might have demanded we turn back because of aliens or whatever the reason is." [2]

Another possibility in connection with the "UFO" theory is that they may have seen the Luna 15 spacecraft, which the Soviet Union had launched in tandem with Apollo 11. It was a sample return mission that ultimately failed when the craft crashed on the Moon. ("Apollo 11." Modern Marvels. The History Channel. )

According to another legend, a survey undertaken in the 1980s in Morocco revealed that a substantial percentage didn't think humans had landed on the Moon; this was not due to conspiracy theory, but rather to that segment not having been informed^{[citation needed]}.