We went to see Buzz Aldrin at the South Bank on Saturday. Science heroes are to be cherished. It was good, not because he was heroic but because he was flawed and enthusiastic.
He talked eloquently and honestly about how hard it is to answer the question every one wants to ask moon walkers. It was along the lines of this answer he gave to The Guardian a few days earlier.
"He has always had problems putting into words the grandeur of that moment 40 years ago. "People want to know what it felt like," he says. "They want us in a few words to generate the enthusiasm that the world had as they contemplated what we were about to do. Well, what it felt like is something that we trained for. We were trying to treat it as calmly as we could and perform to the best of our ability. We tried to repress feelings of exuberance, of disappointment, and be proud and responsible people accomplishing the task that was given to us. That sounds kind of boring. Except that what we did was kind of earth-shaking."
His interviewer, Andrew Smith, mentioned another strategy. Apparently Pete Conrad always tried to get away from that question as quickly as possible:
(From A Man On The Moon)
Massive understatement always wins.