Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Neil Armstrong's grammar correction...

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Historic words which have been criticized for decades, because Neil Armstrong apparently forgot to put the article that would have made it grammatically correct...
"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Apparently he was supposed to transmit this to NASA's mission control, but he said the latter. Over the years, he has maintained that he said it the way it supposed to be - with an "a".

An Australian scientist has vindicated Armstrong's story, using some high tech sound-editing and analysis software. Excerpts...

Ford said he downloaded the audio recording of Armstrong's words from a NASA Web site and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate through computers using their nerve impulses.

In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, Ford said he found evidence that the missing "a" was spoken and transmitted to NASA.

"I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford's analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful," Armstrong said in a statement. "I also find his conclusion persuasive. 'Persuasive' is the appropriate word."

Well, somehow I have gotten attached to the "flawed" version. To me, it seems to show more human characteristics...we scaled great technological heights to reach the moon, and yet in the excitement, made a grammatical mistake !

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