I just received a media advisory from James Oberg, a contributor to Astronomy and noted space historian. And I learned something new — something historic. Something I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t know. It appears that many video producers continue to misrepresent Neil Armstrong’s comments the day he stepped onto the Moon (that's Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin pictured at right). Oberg explains it best:
The National Geographic Channel is running “Expedition Week” with several space-related stories, including the must-see excellent Five Years on Mars, about the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It also has a special on Moon exploration, Direct from the Moon, which contains excellent new material from Japanese Moon exploration.
Unfortunately, that Moon program also repeats the single GREATEST bogus piece of Apollo program mis-history — a point that must be made and made over again as we move into the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon missions in the months ahead. Don't make this “classic” mistake.
I wrote about the flaw some years ago — for example, in the Wall Street Journal on the 35th anniversary.
Here's what I wrote then, still valid — and still snaring careless producers:
To compress events, Neil Armstrong's comments about making "One small step" have often been matched with video of him dropping down from the Lunar Module ladder. Actually, he landed on one of the vehicle's footpads, made several comments, jumped back up on the ladder to make sure he could, jumped down a second time, discussed his impressions of his surroundings, and only after that did he make the "small step" onto the moondust. So the rearranged video completely misrepresents what he meant by "one small step".
In the National Geographic production, Armstrong is seen on the ladder, and his comment, "I'm going to step off the LM," is voiced over. He then descends straight down, holding the ladder sides, and his voice is heard intoning the “one small step” sequence. This is totally bogus — although even some NASA video productions in the 1990s had the same error.
My 1994 story concludes:
When TV programs pose as ‘true history’ and are presented as documentaries, a higher standard of authenticity should be required. The Apollo-11 anniversary programs showed again that such standards are not universally met. Some programs, such as Discovery's One Giant Leap, were strikingly accurate, showing signs that some producers took the extra trouble to "get it right,” and knew how to do so. But the widespread misrepresentations in other shows are more reminders that people should seek truth where it can be found, and the TV screen, with its need for visual excitement and compressed action, is not an environment always conducive to historical accuracy.
Thanks, Jim! In months to come, we'll be reporting on the true history of Apollo, and be wary of the mythologized versions that have crept into our reportage and even our memories.