NASA’s Apollo 11 mission was the famous spaceflight that successfully landed on the Moon on July 20, 1966, and brought an end to the Space Race. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle and the former became the first man to walk on the Moon moments later. With the monumental event airing on live TV to a worldwide audience, the former US Navy pilot described the event as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
The words went down in history as the event marked the start of a new space age.
However, Armstrong claimed there was no clever thinking behind the statement, during Altitude film’s upcoming film “Armstrong”.
The new motion picture, which will hit UK cinemas on July 9, features the narrative of his own words picked out from letters, speeches and interviews over the years.
Voiced by Harrison Ford, he reveals: “I thought ‘well when I step off, I’m just going to be making a little step from there down to there’.
“But when I thought about all those 400,000 people that had given me the opportunity to make that step, it was a big something for all those folks.
“And indeed for a lot of others who weren’t even involved in the project.
“So it was just a simple correlation of thoughts.
“It was special and memorable but we weren’t there to meditate, we were there to get things done, so we got on with it.”
Apollo flight director Christopher Kraft claimed during the same film how he single-handedly prevented Buzz Aldrin from being the first man on the Moon.
As head of Flight Operations, Kraft was closely involved in planning the management of the Apollo 8 series of 1968, but that did not stop him from pulling a few strings in other missions.
He said: “Did I have anything to do with Neil being the first man on the Moon? Yes. I did it.
“Deke Slayton said ‘Aldrin will be the first guy on the Moon’ but up here [in my head] said ‘we don’t want Aldrin on the Moon.
“I just felt like Buzz was not the right personality and would not be the best representative for the United States.
“I thought Neil would do better.
“I didn’t dislike Aldrin, didn’t like him either, we all have weaknesses, I didn’t know Jesus when I met him though.”
Directed by David Fairhead, “Armstrong” will be in UK and Irish cinemas on July 9, to celebrate 50 years since the first Moon landing.
The film was made with the full support of Mr Armstrong’s family after his death in August 2012 and includes previously unseen footage of history’s most famous astronaut.
