While on the moon, did Neil Armstrong really say, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky”?

SHARE While on the moon, did Neil Armstrong really say, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky”?

Dear Cecil: I was E-mailed the following story. Is there any way you could confirm this? When Apollo mission astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind” statement, but followed it by several remarks — [mostly the] usual COM traffic between him, the other astronauts, and mission control. Before he re- entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years, many people have question [Armstrong] as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant. On July 5, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. He finally responded. It seems that Mr. Gorsky had died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question. When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the back yard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors’ bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!” Ted Maas, via the Internet

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Illustration by Slug Signorino

Cecil replies:

I couldn’t reach Neil Armstrong, not that I killed myself trying. However, NASA denied this story categorically and, I might say, somewhat huffily. (Guy didn’t so much as chuckle when I read it to him. Whatsamatter, nobody appreciates a good blow job joke anymore?) Finally, not that it proves anything, this apparently first showed up on the Internet on rec.humor. But I personally believe every word, dangling participles and all.

Cecil Adams

Send questions to Cecil via cecil@straightdope.com.