So concerned was the Nixon white house that the Apollo 11 astronauts might be unable to take off and die on the surface of the moon, that William Safire penned a speech ahead of time for Nixon to deliver if the scenario came true:

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.
No-one knew whether the module would successfully launch from the moon
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.

You know they plan for everything, buts its kind of chilling when you read it.

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. [since we didn't even bother to test if that LEM that was supposed to help bring them back was capable of launching them to lunar orbit or not]
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. [yeah, like next time, test the LEM lander before using it, dickheads!]
These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding. [that space research is no child's play.. and it should not be faked if can't be done safely]
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. [bull# to that, mate, mother earth couldn't give a rat's ass about people who die as a result of such stupid, unsound, haphazard, flimsy political decisions.]
No-one knew whether the module would successfully launch from the moon [yeah well, by the looks of it, plenty of people knew exactly what the LEM was gonna do way ahead of time]
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. [glory hallelujah!]
Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. [the time is nigh]
But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. [first to be making such a colossal prank a worldwide success]
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. [oh how so dazzlingly poetic]


[edit on 2-8-2004 by oxo]

The most important and convincing historical EVIDENCE that the Apollo Space Program was a hoax is the FACT that the mechanism (or the likes of) which was supposedly used exhaustively during these "ferrying" operations [i.e. the launch mechanism of the LEM lander] was untested while it was being used 6 times within 3 years.. and to this day [Aug 2, 2004] remains untested.. since the so-called "manned testings/demonstrations" of this device all turn out to have been staged on planet earth anyway and therefore the historical records which indicate this was actually done are forged.

No US president, scientist, official, or what have you, could have given permission to such manned tests taking place on account of the menslaughter charges they'd have had to deal with in the case of the LEM going wrong..

so why did they give permission?

they knew it was fake.

alternative history:
LEM doesn't fire. Neil and Buzz die. Nixon and NASA at court. Judge asks:

- why didn't you field-test this mechanism that was so very obviously likely to go horribly wrong?
- your honor.. because we were in a hurry to beat the russians.
- alrighty then.. case dismissed.

I don't think so..

they knew it was fake as it gets.

get this through your thick f----- heads.

excuse the french but not many people seem to understand english

and what would some driveling idiots have to say about LEM being untested?

things like:

- the (also undeniably fake) earlier apollo missions (in which the LEM is not even landed on the moon nevermind launched) constitute sort of tests kind of thing that's kind of a safe and sensible way of doing things sort of from an engineer's point of view - which is rubbish

- you don't even need to test a mechanism meant for human transport in the said conditions.. or the only way of testing this mechanism has to involve actual human lives at risk.

like if you have something that NASA thinks might, might, mind you, just only might, and might only float on water.. you can immediately throw it in the water with people on it.. no need to test its density or see if it really floats or not!

- people who question this safety issue of LEM do not have the technical expertise or engineering qualifications to discuss the matter. how convenient.

to paraphrase

merely the solid facts that in relation to that era (1967-1969)

a) US has a very doubtful and botchy record of succesfully landing things on the moon
b) US has no record of trying to launch - nevermind actually launching - anything from the moon prior to the A-11 LEM whatsoever

are proof positive that the alleged manned explorations of the moon had been faked.

in conclusion

those who cannot understand how apollo was faked in given time are incurably insane and I'm sorry if I am being harsh..

but they are gonna have to be put down

for the safety and benefit of future generations

people, who tried launching their fellow citizens from an alien object without so much as bothering to field-test the equipment that was supposed to be doing this, were grade A morons no matter what..

either for actually doing it

or for pretending to be

same goes for the lunatics who got sucked so badly into these lies that they claim I may be mistaken and will be singing many more a loony tune about these meteorites NASA has been passing around actually coming from the moon.

annuit coeptis

novus odo seclorum

heh. the lem was tested and tested and tested and tested again before they put it up. we went to the moon, so get over it. im pretty sure the russians woulda found out by no if we didnt go to the moon.

Originally posted by KrazyIvan
heh. the lem was tested and tested and tested and tested again before they put it up. we went to the moon, so get over it. im pretty sure the russians woulda found out by no if we didnt go to the moon.

Exactly, all of the moon hoax points have been debunked and debunked and debunked yet again. Regardless, this thread was NOT ment to open that sad tired debate again. Every administration plans for adverse events by and large. Even the news networks do the same with bio's prepared for fameous people etc. (remeber CNN's web site had an Obit for Cheney on by mistake.) I was commenting on the fact that despite all the optimism, they still prepared for the worst.

well the things is it is no debate

I am exposing it

I am the russians

for all you know

oxo,

I think you already have a thread you're discussing your nonsense in. You need to buzz off and stop trying to derail this one - which is about an entirely different subject.

ON THE SUBJECT - Don't you think all the president's did? Wouldn't you think that there were ones prepared as well for the Mercury and Gemini missions?

It would be interesting to read these.

Originally posted by KrazyIvan
heh. the lem was tested and tested and tested and tested again before they put it up. ... im pretty sure the russians woulda found out by no if we didnt go to the moon.

I'm talking about field-testing it, dufus. number of tests: ZERO
tested and tested my arse.

and pray tell

what russian newspapers do you have in your posession from that period that affirm to the authenticity of apollo missions?

Originally posted by Valhall
ON THE SUBJECT - Don't you think all the president's did? Wouldn't you think that there were ones prepared as well for the Mercury and Gemini missions? It would be interesting to read these.

Ill bet there were Valhall esp for the first missions in each series. When the Challanger exploded, Peggy Noonan had to whip up reagans speech. However, when the first shuttle was launced, Ill bet they had one. By the time of the explosion, the launches had become routine (a little too routine IMHO).

After Reagan IMHO, Kennedy was the best speaking president of all time. He would have delivered quite a Eulogy had we lost anyone in Space. I think alot can be learned how the admin planned to deal with failure as well as success.

Interesting speech, and well written, too. I have no problems with being prepared in case something goes wrong or something bad happens (Isn't being prepared a smart thing to do?), so it's OK with me.

I'm sure that there are speeches written right now, in case the U.S. gets attacked again (and probably different versions of that speech depending on whether the attack was like Sept. 11, 2001, biological, chemical, or nuclear). They'll sit in the speechwriting vault in the White House in the hopes that no President ever has to deliver it.

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
nuclear). They'll sit in the speechwriting vault in the White House in the hopes that no President ever has to deliver it.

You know, we will be going down to LA this winter and I may swing by the Nixon and Reagan Perd. Libraries and see if they have an archive of "non-speeches" If they do, it could make for some intersting reading

Originally posted by FredT
You know, we will be going down to LA this winter and I may swing by the Nixon and Reagan Perd. Libraries and see if they have an archive of "non-speeches" If they do, it could make for some intersting reading.

That's a cool idea! Please do it! I'd do the same, but I'm nowhere near any major cities, much less any Presidential libraries.

I'm sure there's 'non-speeches' somewhere out there with the themes "The Soviet Union has attacked the United States" and "The Soviet Union has invaded Western Europe"...

so what if he had a speech if the moon landing failed miserably. hell eisenhower had a speech if d-day didnt work.

What I'm wondering is what would his speech have been had the CSM flown straight into the Moon?

The letter is just in the case that the ascent engine did not fire.

It is also a shame that "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."

Was only conceived for such a disaster...that phrase should be taught to every child, because it is still true even if their bodies are not left up there.

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
I'm sure there's 'non-speeches' somewhere out there with the themes "The Soviet Union has attacked the United States" and "The Soviet Union has invaded Western Europe"...

I yhink we already got a taste:

"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Reagan over an open mike in 1984 I thought it was funny, but the Russians did not

Originally posted by FredT
I yhink we already got a taste:

"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Reagan over an open mike in 1984 I thought it was funny, but the Russians did not

Yeah, that was hilarious! He was just testing the microphone to make sure it worked, and thought he'd be cute and tell a joke so that the studio workers would laugh. Boy, it caused a stir when it was caught on tape though...

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
Yeah, that was hilarious! He was just testing the microphone to make sure it worked, and thought he'd be cute and tell a joke so that the studio workers would laugh. Boy, it caused a stir when it was caught on tape though...

The Russian really freaked out. They were in the mists of Operation RYAN which was trying to determine if Reagan was going to launch a prewmtive strike on the USSR. It really set them on edge!