In Event of Moon Disaster
By Clive Python | 14jammar
On the 24th of July 1969 at 16:50:35 UTC Neil A. Armstrong, Michael
Collins and Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr. became the first three men to land on
the moon. Because there was a high risk of failure, Presidential speechwriter
William Safire wrote a memo to the White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman
suggesting how the Nixon administration might react if Apollo 11 astronauts
were stranded on the moon.
If they were indeed stranded on the moon, President Richard Nixon would phone
the widows-to-be, then Mission Control would "close down communications" with
the Lunar Module, the men would of cause die in three ways; 1) suicide, 2) run
out of food and water, or 3) commit murder-suicide.
In the memo, William Safire also wrote a speech that President Richard Nixon
might read out...
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 their 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.
In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to
feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the
brotherhood of man.
In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the
constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our
heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search
will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will
remain the foremost in our hearts.
For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to
come will know that there is some corner of another world that
is forever mankind.
PRIOR TO THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT:
The President should telephone each of the widows-to-be.
AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT, AT THE POINT WHEN NASA ENDS
COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEN:
A clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at sea,
commending their souls to "the deepest of the deep," concluding
with the Lord's Prayer.
Safire would die from pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Rockville,
Maryland, on the 27th of September 2009, aged 79.
He was survived by his wife, Helene Belmar (Julius); their children, Mark and Annabel and granddaughter, Lily.
I.
Lunar ascent and return
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Lunar_ascent_and_return [Internet Archive, archive.is]
II.
In Event of Moon Disaster
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster [Internet Archive, archive.is]
https://owlman.neocities.org/Transcripts/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster.html [Internet Archive, archive.is]
III.
William Safire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Safire#Death [Internet Archive, archive.is]
Also See...
xkcd: Apollo Speeches
https://xkcd.com/1484/ [Internet Archive, archive.is]
http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1484/ [Internet Archive, archive.is]
Written by Clive "James" Python, 19/03/17.
http://owlman.neocities.org/library/moondisaster.html
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://owlman.neocities.org/library/moondisaster.html
To : H. R. Haldeman
From : Bill Safire
July 18, 1969.
IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:
References