# Did astronaut Neil Armstrong muff his historic one small step line ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 4, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672 "2009-06-04T07:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/21 "2009-06-12T05:02:46Z")
ETAA, FAR too late, yeah, dude muffed his lines. And if he were like me he’d relive it every night at about 3:30AM. But he’s built of sterner stuff and can put it behind him. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/22 "2009-06-12T16:30:30Z")
Whatever happened to the story about some original Armstrong tape recorded in Australia might be useful and it was being sent to the US to digitize or something. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/23 "2009-06-12T18:11:40Z")
Hey **dropzone** , I’m skeptical about your link. I mean, they can’t even keep internally consistent on what Neil’s lines were supposed to be. The picture, the headline, and the quote in the article are all different. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/24 "2009-06-13T00:56:32Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Except, of course, for the fact that they specifically listened for this and there is no evidence that is what happened, they say. > > You really should read the associated story. 😉 I’ve heard the audio a million times and without further processing, I hear a guy who grew up in small-town Ohio saying “f’ruh man”. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/25 "2009-06-13T03:03:29Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I’ve heard the audio a million times and without further processing, I hear a guy who grew up in small-town Ohio saying “f’ruh man”. Yes, well, you didn’t have the cleaned up tapes, nor do you have the broken down waveforms to look at, do you? I mean, really. On a site devoted to the “straight dope,” your statement really seems quite out of place, don’t you think? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/26 "2009-06-13T05:55:21Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Hey **dropzone** , I’m skeptical about your link. I mean, they can’t even keep internally consistent on what Neil’s lines were supposed to be. The picture, the headline, and the quote in the article are all different. 😉 And yet…they are the same. Okay, I’m making that part up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/27 "2009-06-13T08:48:14Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Yes, well, you didn’t have the cleaned up tapes, nor do you have the broken down waveforms to look at, do you? I mean, really. On a site devoted to the “straight dope,” your statement really seems quite out of place, don’t you think? :smack: I fail to see what the name of the site has to do with it. He just offered his opinion, what he heard, which is tangentially related to the OP, like many of the comments made by other Dopers. It doesn’t matter that what he heard is now considered to be incorrect. I mean, I would never assume that something that uses such informal language as “the straight dope” would be nearly as accurate as it is. In fact, the only time I’ve heard the phrase used, it was somebody trying to convince me of the veracity of a (provably false) urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/28 "2009-06-13T12:29:04Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Yes, well, you didn’t have the cleaned up tapes, nor do you have the broken down waveforms to look at, do you? I mean, really. On a site devoted to the “straight dope,” your statement really seems quite out of place, don’t you think? :smack: I don’t think I’m getting my point across. The cleaned-up tapes have nothing to do with it. I am saying that I am familiar with the clipped rural Ohio accent, and if I met a guy walking down the street in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and he said “Vogue is OK f’r woman to read, but not f’r man,” pronouncing the “f’r” exactly the same way Armstrong did on the commonly available Apollo 11 tape, I would not necessarily conclude that he had mistakenly dropped the “a”, nor that there was a glitch in the recording. I might just chalk it up to the local accent. You notice that when he says “for mankind” he doesn’t exactly sound like Prince Charles either. It’s more like “fer mankind,” but it sounds a shade different from how he says “f’r man”. That’s my opinion. Here is an example of a countervailing opinion: “I, too, am familiar with Armstrong’s accent, having lived in Auglaize County, Ohio my whole life, and I think you’re all wet.” Saying that the only valid analysis is one based on the PSD plot of the audio signal is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/29 "2009-06-13T13:29:14Z")
Personally, I think “HOUSTON, TRANQUILITY BASE HERE. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED” is cooler is more significant. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/30 "2009-06-13T14:35:08Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I’ve heard the audio a million times and without further processing, I hear a guy who grew up in small-town Ohio saying “f’ruh man”. I, too, grew up in a small Ohio town, and this seems a fair point to me. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/31 "2009-06-17T22:56:11Z")
If I’d been Armstrong and given a line to say I’d smile and agree with NASA to say it. Then when I stepped out I’d say whatever I dang well pleased. It wouldn’t be as if they could stop me! And even if I never went into space again, it would be MY words that would be remembered! ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/32 "2009-06-18T21:38:26Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Hey **dropzone** , I’m skeptical about your link. I mean, they can’t even keep internally consistent on what Neil’s lines were supposed to be. The picture, the headline, and the quote in the article are all different. 😉 You moon-landing deniers just never stop, do you. :mad: \* The headline you see in the picture is just how the newspaper editors decided to title it. (Note that it’s not in quotes.) The “headline” alongside is actually the sub-heading (look closely at the picture), and are his actual first words after setting foot on the moon. The quote in the first paragraph of the article was the message he sent back when the _lunar module_ touched down, _not_ what he said after setting foot on the moon. - 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/33 "2009-06-18T21:40:35Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > If I’d been Armstrong and given a line to say I’d smile and agree with NASA to say it. Then when I stepped out I’d say whatever I dang well pleased. It wouldn’t be as if they could stop me! And even if I never went into space again, it would be MY words that would be remembered! Me too, and those words for the history books would be “Neil Armstrong f\*\*\*ing rocks!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/34 "2009-06-18T22:43:41Z")
Not “Buzz Aldrin can suck it”? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/35 "2009-06-19T14:10:54Z")
Another excellent choice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672/36 "2009-06-19T14:41:24Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > That’s my opinion. Here is an example of a countervailing opinion: “I, too, am familiar with Armstrong’s accent, having lived in Auglaize County, Ohio my whole life, and I think you’re all wet.” Saying that the only valid analysis is one based on the PSD plot of the audio signal is silly. Wow, I live in Wapakoneta. (not native tho) Doperfest at Aztecas! 😛 I also acknowledge that local accent is enough to cast reasonable doubt on whether he flubbed it or not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line/498672.md?page=1)