VaBeachGuy 12 Posted July 6, 2003 Who was the second person to walk on the moon? Most people don't remember that it was Buzz Aldrin, and I'm sure even more people don't remember his words on the moon. The only reason he was second on the moon and not first was because of a design choice in the Lunar Module. Had the designers made the front hatch open inwards to the left as oppesed to inwards to the right he would have been first. His position in the Lunar Module was to stand on the right side as Lunar Module Pilot and feed data to the Lunar Module Commander Neil Armstrong. When the time came to actually get out of the LM and the hatch was opened there would be no way for Buzz ro get out first unless he and Armstrong switched places, which would have been a potentially dangerous thing to do in the small LM. So we have Armstrong's "One Small Step" instead of Aldrins "Magnificent Desolation". To read more about Buzz Aldrin visit http://www.buzzaldrin.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chataeya 0 Posted July 7, 2003 (edited) :wacko: VBG, so your saying that "Aldrin" was suppose to be the first one out? B) Edited July 7, 2003 by Chataeya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted July 7, 2003 :wacko: VBG, so your saying that "Aldrin" was suppose to be the first one out? B) No, there was really no set order of egress before the mission. Then in or about March of 1969 Buzz Aldrin raised the question of who gets out first. In the past, the mission commander stayed inside the spacecraft while the second pilot (Gemini) or LMP (Lunar Module Pilot in the case of Apollo 9) did the space walk. Buzz, wanting to be first to step on the moon like anyone else would raised this question. It actually caused some uncomfortable feelings through the astronaut office. The decision by the powers that be was made simple by the design of the LM hatch. As I said above, it opened to the right and for the two men to switch places would been too hard a task to accomplish safely. There is also an almost unspoken circumstance, Buzz Aldrin was a Colonel in the Air Force. Neil Armstrong was a civilian. It has been speculated that NASA or higher up didn't want the first man on the moon to be a military man because it would seem like it was a military operation to "take the moon". That theory has merit but I don't know that is the case. TPTB were concerned about the mission seeming too military though, they even went so far as to change the mission patch to seem less imposing. The original patch had the Eagles talons open as if it was about to land. TPTB thought this looked too imposing, as if the Eagle were about to take a chunk out of the moon. So they gave the Eagle an olive branch to grasp in it's talons to symbolize the fact that they went to the moon in peace. So to answer your question, no he wasn't "supposed" to be first but if NASA had followed previous precedent on past missions he would have been first and had the hatch opened to the left instead of to the right again he would have been first. I hope this answers your question. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ezri Dax 0 Posted July 7, 2003 I fell for the poor guy, Collins if I remember correctly, that didn't do a moonwalk... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted July 7, 2003 I fell for the poor guy, Collins if I remember correctly, that didn't do a moonwalk... Yeah, Michael Collins stayed in the Columbia alone while Neil and Buzz were on the moon. He said he was just as happy only going 99% of the way. His biggest fear was that Neil and Buzz wouldn't be able to lift off of the moon and he would have to come back to earth alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
