One small mis-step for man

NASA announced this week that it has misplaced one of its most cherished possessions: The first transmission tapes from the Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

The tapes include Neil Armstrong’s famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” While there are many thousands of copies of the famous words and scenes from the moon, there’s something extra special about the originals.

And my question is, why were these priceless treasures not housed in a museum or at the national archive center?

I called NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. to try and find out more about this still developing story. A spokesman told me that to the best of his knowledge, NASA archivists are busily searching for the tapes at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C.

The spokesman said that a routine cleaning and inventory check showed the tapes were in fact missing from the collection — they weren’t where they were supposed to be, but they are “probably there somewhere,” he said.

That’s not very reassuring.

I’m big on history, and while old tapes filed away in a dusty room may not seem like much, everyone should realize that these tapes recorded the first-ever live transmission of a man on the moon.

These were the tapes that whirled around on massive recording machines throughout the world to catch the signal as the Earth rotated.

After the tapes were made, they were then immediately transferred to the proper format so millions of Americans could tune in to watch the broadcast.

I’m a little troubled at how dismissive NASA is being about the importance of these tapes. The spokesman told me, “It’s in the eye of the beholder. If the Smithsonian would want to display the reel behind glass, I don’t know.”

I stepped up my questioning a bit and asked the spokesman about the historic significance of the tapes.
He replied, “I don’t know. It’s like a first edition book, of course it’s important. The importance of having an original, and it’s impact. But there is no impact on the space program as it stands today, it’s just part of history.”

Indeed it is.

These tapes may not have any real scientific value, and most Americans may wonder why there’s such a fuss over their exact whereabouts, but to these people I say this:

Think of it as a home movie of your deceased loved ones, people you love and admire, but who are no longer here to share that love and affection with you.

While you have photos and other images of them, it would be nice to have an original piece of their historic lives. The tapes are as important as Lincoln’s stove-top hat or the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

They’re a part of who we are, and I hope that NASA can find them before they’re sold on eBAY.