How Armstrong and Aldrin made ‘damn’ the first lunar curse

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon. At a little past 5 am GMT, Armstrong has spent about two hours and 10 minutes outside, while Aldrin spent 20 fewer minutes. In this time, they have planted the US flag on the lunar surface, and also spoken to US President Richard Nixon.

The entire operation has been without incident, except for when Aldrin dropped a film pack. Armstrong picked it up immediately, easily, almost nonchalantly, showing again that all of NASA’s worries about the difficulties the astronauts could face moving on the Moon were unwarranted.

The incident would have passed without any notice had it not been for Aldrin, furious at his own clumsiness, lets slip a resounding, “Damn.”