After Neil Armstrong's death, his widow, Carol, discovered a white cloth bag in a closet, containing what were obviously either flight or space related artifacts. She contacted Allan Needell, curator of the Apollo collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and provided photographs of the items. Needell, who immediately realized that the bag—known to the astronauts as the Purse - and its contents could be hardware from the Apollo 11 mission....
February 8, 2015
Neil Armstrong was supposed to leave that purse on the moon.
But he brought it home and stowed it in the closet.
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Oops... this is slightly embarrassing:
Item Number: 19
Part Number: LDW340-53444-1
Serial Number: 0014
Name: bowling shirt covered in scantly clad caricatures of sexy women in provocative poses (aka 'ShhhGirlsShirt')
Explains global warming , ebola, and measles outbreak. Prove me wrong
These artifacts are among the very few Apollo 11 flown items brought back from Tranquility Base and, thus, are of priceless historical value.
The astronauts believed they could place a value on priceless artifacts.
Do you understand how much the astronauts were paid?
Something caused the hatch to blow...
I have long had the feeling that Apollo 11 was the zenith of American cultural achievement. Once we walked on the moon. Now our scientists lie about global warming for research grants. Our vision is small these days.
...One book, Swedish-Made Astronaut Penis Enlargers and Me: This is My Bag, Baby by Neil Armstrong...
Where does it say that he "was supposed to leave that purse on the moon"? I can't find that. I get the sense that there was no expectation that he would bring it back rather than that he should specifically leave it behind.
That said, where's Aldrin's purse? I find it hard to imagine Aldrin was unaware of his crewmate's scavenging and didn't do his share of scavenging himself.
A 'purse'?
Is there anything we are not supposed to know about Neil's personal life?
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.
Here's the Smithsonian article with the info the the bag was supposed to have been left behind.
Thanks Althouse. That's a very informative article. It answers my initial supposition that weight might be a reason to leave these things behind. And both the word "scheduled" and the openness of mentioning the "odds and ends" suggest that Armstrong was not really bending the rules very far.
Also, it answered my second question. Apparently only the commander got a purse. Poor Aldrin.
It wasn't "supposed" to be left behind, it was "scheduled" to be. That's just because everything they did was scheduled. It was impossible not to specify what was to happen to the bag, so the mission planners did.
But Armstrong felt like bringing it back. And that was his prerogative, as commander of the mission. Maybe people forget that Apollo was run on military lines: once the bird lifted, the commander was in charge, not the people on the ground, and certainly not the schedule prepared ahead of time.
I saw the beginning of the first moonwalk as a 15-year-old kid laying on the floor watching a black-and-white TV. Unfortunately I fell asleep in the middle. Can I watch the rest on Youtube now?
Neil Armstrong, good Scot that he was, didn't have a lunar purse. He had a space sporran.
The "Apollo Moon Hoax" subculture will be unimpressed, unlike Nvidia's impressive new Maxwell GPU, which was recently used to debunk a moon hoax conspiracy theory.
Carl's attempted scheduled/supposed distinction treats "supposed" as if it means "under strict orders."
By the way, I don't understand the extreme excitement over this assortment of junk, but for some reason, I've never been excited about space travel. At the time, I didn't want to sit in front of the TV and watch it. I felt that we were being pressured by the government to admire its achievements and not look at the mess here on earth. How about fixing things that directly affect people?
it = the first moon landing.
"How about fixing things that directly affect people"
Really?
Let's look at the record. Since about 1965 we have had our government 'fixing things' here in the US. The Great Society. War on Poverty. Medicare/Medicaid. Need I go on? Trillions spent on 'fixing things' What the hell to show for it? Masses of millions in the country now squat on their haunches, mouths open begging for their spoonful of gruel. whole sections of the population who are so enslaved in their minds that the manacles and whips are unnecessary. Their bureaucratic overseers ensure conformity by the fetters of benefits. Get even the most trivial of an income outside of the plantation and watch how they jerk the rug.
People who risk greatly are rewarded greatly. Peoples who no longer risk but instead live in a defensive crouch in fear of the whip hand no longer risk. Nor do they long survive.
I'm not asking for bad efforts at fixing things.
Do nothing can be the best option.
I.e., don't go into space.
Leave the moon alone.
"Neil Armstrong was supposed to leave that purse on the moon."
But it's hard to leave stuff on the moon when you're actually on a soundstage with Stanley Kubrick.
How about fixing things that directly affect people?
Screw that.
Do nothing can be the best option.
That's more like it.
I'm not asking for bad efforts at fixing things.
Do nothing can be the best option.
I.e., don't go into space.
Leave the moon alone.
Ya... because when it comes to progress, we'd all still be walking around on all fours and living in caves if Althouse had her way.
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