Read The Transcript Nixon Prepared In Case Neil Armstrong And Buzz Aldrin Got Stranded On The Moon

The success of the Apollo 11 mission, which brought American astronauts to the lunar landscape and then back to Earth safely, is one of America’s greatest national accomplishments. It was also an incredibly risky and ambitious endeavor. Although years of research, planning, and simulation had gone into the project, it was still the first-ever attempted Moon landing, and the potential for disaster was high in the – literally – unearthly conditions. If anything went wrong, the US did not have a contingency plan to get the astronauts home safely. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were both fully aware that the slightest error or malfunction could leave them stranded on the Moon for good. The United States did not have the luxury of creating a measured response in the event of a disaster. The entire country was following the Moon landing via television or radio, and much of the rest of the world was watching, too. If something went wrong, the American government would have a very narrow window to address the public before the news was out that the astronauts were doomed. With this in mind, President Richard Nixon commissioned a speech from Bill Safire, a regular speechwriter of his, to be read immediately following the notification of Armstrong and Aldrin's soon-to-be widows.

Michael Collins is the forgotten man of the Apollo 11 mission, as his role was to stay aboard the Columbia in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin hopped around the Moon’s surface. Given that Nixon’s Moon landing failure speech makes no mention whatsoever of Collins, it is safe to assume that everyone was quite sure he and the Columbia would be able to return safely to Earth. Instead, the speech focused on the possibility that Collins would be unable to retrieve his fellow astronauts from the lunar surface, and he would be forced to return home without them.

The creepiest aspect of Nixon’s speech was that it was meant to be broadcast to the country before Armstrong and Aldrin had actually died. Even if they were abandoned on the Moon’s surface, the two would be able to survive until their oxygen ran out, or they starved. Alternatively, it was mentioned that the astronauts may have had to engage in “deliberately closed down communications,” a euphemism for suicide. Nixon would be letting the nation know that, although Armstrong and Aldrin were still alive now, they were doomed, and fully aware of their impending demise. “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.”

Nixon’s speech made an attempt to spread a message of peace for all mankind in the wake of a horrific tragedy. Space exploration has traditionally been a unifying force for human scientific endeavor, and Nixon sought to reinforce that notion in his address. The entire world, after all, was watching. “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.”

Had they perished on their mission, Armstrong and Aldrin would have been making a kind of sacrifice that was relatively new to mankind – scientific sacrifice. Nixon’s speech made sure to highlight how their bravery would contribute to future scientific endeavors, and how the lessons learned from their sacrifice would be applied to ensure that future lunar missions would not end in tragedy. The men would have sacrificed their lives in the everlasting human campaign to understand the unknown. “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.”

Although not normally known for his flowery prose, Nixon would have offered up a beautiful and poetic description of the sacrifice that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would have made, had they not returned home in this speech. Nixon compared the astronauts to the constellations of old, saying, “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... 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.”

Had Armstrong and Aldrin died on the Moon, their story would have remained both a lesson and an inspiration for future astronauts. After all, there was no way the United States would stop with just one attempted Moon landing, no matter how poorly it had gone. Despite the unfortunate fate of their mission, Armstrong and Aldrin would have remained just as legendary as they are now, due to being the first to brave the dangers of the lunar landscape. They would have paved the way for future generations of astronauts. “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.”

There were, of course, some technical and religious details that would need to be taken care of in the event of the death of Armstrong and Aldrin. The US Government had a plan in place should any astronauts be abandoned somewhere in the outer reaches of the solar system, and it was basically the same protocol for a soldier lost at sea. The instructions read: “A clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at sea, commending their souls to "the deepest of the deep, " concluding with the Lord's Prayer.”

Although the potential Nixon speech was sure to be emotional and heartfelt, there were also some cold, hard realities to deal with. In a chilling addition, the speech mentioned some aspects of the protocol for such a situation, including that communication with the doomed astronauts would be cut off at some point. It seems that, in their final moments, Armstrong and Aldrin would have had only each other for company. A snippet of the speech prior to the religious instructions reads like tragic stage directions: “AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT, AT THE POINT WHEN NASA ENDS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEN”