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NASA's backup plan for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's moon voyage shows it was ready for anything

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins might not have made it back to Earth if the 1969 moon landing had failed in anyway and NASA had a contingency plan.

BY RIMA BISWAS

PUBLISHED JUN 24, 2024

Cover Image Source: The crew of Apollo 11, 1969. It comprised Neil Alden Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The moment Neil Armstrong became the first human to land on the surface of the moon on 21 July 1969, was described as "one small step from a man but a giant leap for mankind." But this achievement by the US in the cosmos was also part of a space race to outdo the Soviet Union after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin circled the globe in 1961. While the mission was a success, NASA had a dark back up plan in store in case things did not go according to plan, according to History.

Image Source: 24th July 1969: From left to right, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin Jnr, the crew of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission are subjected to a period of quarantine upon their return to earth. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

According to NASA, on July 16, 1969, mission commander Neil Armstrong and his 3 man crew comprising Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins boarded the Apollo 11 shuttle that launched them into space from Kennedy Space Center. After spending three days in the lunar orbit, Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module Eagle and descended on the moon while Collins continued orbiting in the command module Columbia.

Image Source: Apollo 11 Launch, July 16, 1969. At 9:32 a.m. EDT, the swing arms move away and a plume of flame signals the liftoff of the Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

After exploring the lunar surface for two and a half hours, the duo collected samples and took photographs, hoisted the American flag, and left a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Image Source: Kino. Apollo 11, Apollo 11, Apollo 11, Apollo 11, Szene Am 20. Juli, 1969 landete das amerikanische Raumschiff Apollo 11 auf dem Mond., 1996. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

Following this feat, the real challenge was making their journey back to Earth. Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman had told the senior presidential speechwriter Willam Safire to write a second speech for the president in case the Apollo 11 mission failed and it resulted in Armstrong and Aldrin's death. “You want to be thinking of some alternative posture for the president in the event of mishaps, like what to do for the widows,” Borman told Safire, as per LADBible.

Image Source: American astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), American astronaut Michael Collins (1930-2021), and American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the crew of Apollo 11, in their Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF), in conversation with American politician Richard Nixon (1913-1994), aboard the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean, 24th July 1969. The Command module Columbia had splashed down in the North Pacific Ocean at the end of the Apollo 11 mission. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Getty Images) — Image Source: American astronaut Neil Armstrong , Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, the crew of Apollo 11, in their Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF), in conversation with American politician Richard Nixon (Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

So Safire drafted two separate speeches for Nixon. In case bad luck struck the Apollo 11 crew and they were left stranded on the moon, the president's speech was titled: In the Event of Moon Disaster." “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace," Nixon's speech would have started like this. The President would then call both Armstrong and Aldrin ‘brave’ before stating that they were ‘laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal’, as per the outlet.

Image Source: The crew of the Apollo 11 Command Module (CM) Columbia are picked up by a life raft from the 'USS Hornet' after their historic lunar landing mission, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii, 24th July 1969. The splashdown took place at 11:49 am (CDT), only 12 nautical miles from the 'USS Hornet', and the crew are awaiting pick-up by a helicopter from the vessel. In the boat are Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr, and a US Navy underwater demolition team swimmer. They are all wearing biological isolation garments. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images) — Image Source: The crew of the Apollo 11 Command Module (CM) Columbia are picked up by a life raft from the 'USS Hornet' after their historic lunar landing mission, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii, 24th July 1969. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

NASA's secret contingency plan also included cutting off communications with the stranded astronauts and letting them die on their own terms. It was also stated that Safire's secret contingency plan would see them receiving a call from a priest, who would "commend the duo's souls to the deepest of the deep" before reciting The Lord's Prayers. Fortunately, the Apollo 11 crew reached Earth safely after their pod landed up near Hawaii on July 24, 1969. After living to tell the tale of the remarkable feat for decades, Armstrong died in 2012 due to complications from heart ailments, Collins passed away from cancer at the age of 90 in 2021 and Aldrin is still alive as of 2024.