ON JULY 20, 1969, AS COMMANDER OF THE APOLLO 11 LUNAR MODULE, NEIL
ARMSTRONG WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO SET FOOT ON THE MOON. HIS FIRST WORDS
AFTER STEPPING ON THE MOON, "THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT
LEAP FOR MANKIND," WERE TELEVISED TO EARTH AND HEARD BY MILLIONS. BUT
JUST BEFORE HE REENTERED THE LANDER, HE MADE THE ENIGMATIC REMARK "GOOD
LUCK, MR. GORSKY." PEOPLE AT NASA THOUGHT IT WAS A CASUAL REMARK
CONCERNING SOME RIVAL SOVIET COSMONAUT. HOWEVER, UPON CHECKING, THERE
WAS NO ORSKY IN EITHER THE RUSSIAN OR AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAMS. OVER THE
YEARS MANY PEOPLE QUESTIONED ARMSTRONG AS TO WHAT THE "GOOD LUCK, MR..
GORSKY.. STATEMENT MEANT, BUT ARMSTRONG ALWAYS JUST SMILED. ON JULY 5,
1995, IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA, WHILE ANSWERING QUESTIONS FOLLOWING A
SPEECH, A REPORTER BROUGHT UP THE
26-YEAR-OLD QUESTION TO ARMSTRONG. THIS TIME HE FINALLY RESPONDED. MR..
GORSKY HAD DIED, SO NEIL ARMSTRONG FELT HE COULD ANSWER THE QUESTION. IN
1938 WHEN HE WAS A KID IN A SMALL
MIDWEST TOWN , HE WAS PLAYING BASEBALL WITH A FRIEND IN THE BACKYARD.
HIS FRIEND HIT THE BALL, WHICH LANDED IN HIS NEIGHBOR'S YARD BY THE
BEDROOM WINDOWS. HIS NEIGHBORS WERE MR.. AND MRS.. GORSKY. AS HE LEANED
DOWN TO PICK UP THE BALL, YOUNG ARMSTRONG HEARD MRS.. GORSKY SHOUTING AT
MR.. GORSKY. "SEX! YOU WANT SEX?! YOU'LL GET SEX WHEN THE KID NEXT DOOR
WALKS ON THE MOON!"
TRUE STORY
MR. GORSKY
Armstrong's authorised biography," First Man" say that the story is one of those things which has assumed a life of its own. He says that he didn't actually say it, it was a joke done by Buddy Hackett in the early 1990's on the tonight show.
Now no-one believes him when he mentions that. Its a great story, but a story nonetheless.
Now no-one believes him when he mentions that. Its a great story, but a story nonetheless.
