NO HOPE

We can argue all day about whether or not the moon landing in 1969 was real (and there will never be a definitive conclusion). I like to believe that it was because I'm a huge fan of the whole space race thing and think it's a shame that it's almost non-existent now.

But a friend of mine, Dan Fletcher (maybe you've heard of him), directed me to this site that has all kinds of awesome stuff. A few of the posts are related to the moon landing and the one that I found the most fascinating was how Richard Nixon had a speech prepared in case the astronauts never made it back.

Motherboard -- If the Apollo 11 astronauts had been become stranded on the Moon, William Safire drafted a speech for President Richard Nixon to read on television to the nation.

The plans said that Mission Control was to “close down communications” with the Lunar Module. In a public ritual likened to burial at sea, clergyman would then have commended their souls to “the deepest of the deep” Presidential telephone calls to the astronauts’ wives were also planned.

The speech came from a memo from Safire to Nixon’s chief of staff H. R. Haldeman in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such an event.

"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown."