# Can I re-open the Neil Armstrong/Mr. Gorsky discussion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857 "2005-03-23T06:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![billyhip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@billyhip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billyhip)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857/1 "2005-03-23T06:11:43Z")
This is the question/reply that I first saw: \*Dear Cecil: I was E-mailed the following story. Is there any way you could confirm this? When Apollo mission astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind” statement, but followed it by several remarks–[mostly the] usual COM traffic between him, the other astronauts, and mission control. Before he re- entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years, many people have question [Armstrong] as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant. On July 5, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. He finally responded. It seems that Mr. Gorsky had died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question. When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the back yard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors’ bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!” –Ted Maas, via the Internet \* \*\*Cecil replies: I couldn’t reach Neil Armstrong, not that I killed myself trying. However, NASA denied this story categorically and, I might say, somewhat huffily. (Guy didn’t so much as chuckle when I read it to him. Whatsamatter, nobody appreciates a good blow job joke anymore?) Finally, not that it proves anything, this apparently first showed up on the Internet on rec.humor. But I personally believe every word, dangling participles and all. –CECIL ADAMS \*\* Bravo, Cecil! I, too, believe this story–mainly because it’s more FUN to believe it than to think it was made up by some poor schmuck without a life. Though it is best to know the truth in most things, I think this is a prime example of something that–if it _isn’t_ true, it’s a cryin’ shame, because it _ought to be!_ Some myths and legends are just more fun to believe than to disprove, and boring reality should never be allowed to taint these stories. 🙂 And–in the same vein–another “maybe it’s history and maybe not” story is one \*High Times \* magazine article from some 20 years ago, about JFK, which quoted him as saying, “What a lousy fu\*\*ing job \*this \* turned out to be!” Any dope on that one? I like to believe it–if he \*didn’t \* say it, he should have!–but I’m curious as to what you might did up, here. Thanks! Billy Hipkiss ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857/2 "2005-03-23T06:21:06Z")
I don’t know about JFK, but Mr. Gorsky and his story are long dead. Let’s leave them be. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857/3 "2005-03-23T08:50:37Z")
Read [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.htm). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857/4 "2005-03-23T08:55:51Z")
Moved from IMHO to Comments on Cecil’s Column. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-re-open-the-neil-armstrong-mr-gorsky-discussion/295857/5 "2005-03-23T16:32:16Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the Straight Dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [While on the moon, did Neil Armstrong really say, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky”? (17-Nov-1995)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a951117.html) * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)»