The Speech That Would Have Been Read If the Moon Landing Failed

Did you know the Nixon Administration prepared a speech that would have been delivered if Apollo 11 had ended in disaster?

On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong uttered the famous words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” as he became the first man to set foot on the lunar surface. Although the mission proceeded successfully, there was, of course, the possibility that it may not have. Future audiences would learn all too well the dangers of space travel in the aftermath of tragedies such as the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger (1986) or Columbia (2003).

For this reason, then-President Richard Nixon’s speechwriter, Bill Safire, prepared a speech entitled “IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER” that the President would have used to try to console a nation in mourning. The text of the speech follows below:

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.