In the movie First Man, a very Ryan Gosling-looking Neil Armstrong drops a bracelet on the moon
in memory of his daughter.
But, is there really a bracelet up there?
Did Armstrong actually leave something like this behind?
And, how can we find out?
Let's talk about it in seven elements.
First off, Neil and Janet Armstrong really did have a daughter named Karen, who passed
away at two-and-a-half following a fight with brain cancer.
Her death may have spurred a grief-stricken Armstrong to apply for Project Gemini, stick
with NASA through rigorous trainings and dangerous test flights, to ultimately set foot as First
Man on the moon.
So it makes sense he might honor Karen by leaving something behind.
In life, as in the film, Armstrong didn't talk about Karen after her death, even with
his wife and sons.
So, the moon-bracelet drop is far from a certain thing.
In fact, in his later years he asked point blank whether he'd left something on the moon
for Karen, he said he had not.
So, case closed, right?
There's no bracelet?
Maybe not.
But some see this denial as more a reflection of Armstrong's private nature, and less as
an absolute truth.
They believe he left something, and simply kept that act it to himself--which is why
this mystery exists.
Still, the proof seems simple enough: if it's up there, we could see it, right?
Yes.
Of course.
If we were close enough, or had a strong enough telescope.
But the moon is so far away, and a bracelet so small, that none of our earth-bound tools
come close to being able to resolve or 'see' something that size.
Even the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched by NASA in 2009 and circling as close as
12 miles above the surface doesn't deliver images with enough detail.
Like this one of the Apollo 11 site, complete with equipment from the first moon landing.
You can even see footpaths where Armstrong walked.
The bracelet would be somewhere in this scene, but we're still not close enough.
Are there any clues in the video or audio recordings from the landing?
Again, no luck.
A TV camera was operating during the entire moon walk.
Armstrong exits the lunar lander first, followed by Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon
(which could be a good sequel).
They spent a little over two hours on the surface: placing an American flag,
taking pictures, setting up experiments, gathering rocks, and chatting with President Nixon.
But, the astronauts aren't always in frame.
And none of the audio, photos or other video sources give away a bracelet drop either.
Which could mean it never happened. Or if it did, Armstrong wanted to keep it private,
and not, say, have it feature prominently in a Hollywood movie.
Neither Armstrong nor Aldrin ever talked about a memento for Karen.
But, what about the ten others who've been on the moon?
Maybe they saw something?
No luck here either.
It turns out the moon, in addition to not being made of cheese, is actually really big:
about 1/4th the size of earth, and with more surface area than all of the African continent.
So you're not just going to happen upon something the size of a bracelet.
More to the point, the six lunar landings were spread all over the near side of the
moon with, Armstrong here and the next-closest landing hundreds of miles or kilometers away.
And none of these other brave visitors reported seeing anything out of place.
ET says, "Phone home!" Spock says, "Fascinating!"
Every astronaut was allowed to bring a Personal Preference Kit or 'PPK' on their flights:
a small bag that was loaded with whatever the astronauts wanted.
If Armstrong took a bracelet, he'd probably have packed it here.
Often, PPK's were loaded with coins, mission patches, flags, jewelry and that sort of thing.
So a bracelet would fit right in.
Aldrin brought bread and wine and took communion during their mission.
Later flights saw two-dollar bills, a golf club and golf balls, even a family portrait,
which is still on the surface to this day.
So, what was in Armstrong's PPK?
We know he took jewelry for his wife and mother, a scout badge, a fraternity pin,
wood and cloth remnants from the wright brothers first airplane, and more.
He's talked about these items and even signed his name to some.
But again, he never admitted to bringing something for his daughter.
NASA was so thorough, they'd also have astronauts write down everything packed in their kit
before their flights.
Here's Charlie Duke's list, with mention of that family photo.
But, unfortunately, if Armstrong listed something for Karen, we wouldn't know:
his manifest has yet to be revealed.
At this point the bracelet story seems like a long shot: no photos, no audio,
Armstrong denied it and so forth.
But a small detour Armstrong took while on the moon strikes some as a little odd.
This detour is depicted in the movie, and shown in this map of the landing site
with Armstrong and his path in yellow.
They've been on the moon nearly two hours now, and there's still some work to be done.
But instead, Armstrong (on his own) quietly makes an unscheduled and un-announced trek
to this crater.
He's silent for six minutes, out of camera view for three minutes, and stands at the
edge for as much as 80 or 90 seconds.
He snaps photos to make one panoramic image, but -- that's it!
And so it's here -- alone, out of contact with earth, and the farthest either astronaut
would venture -- that maybe, just maybe, he left something.
It's this belief, held by some of his family, that created this moment in the movie.
The bracelet's a beautiful part of the story, but did it actually happen?
What do you think?
Could you pull off such a private act with the whole world watching?
Will we ever know what's up there?
And, what would YOU leave on the moon?
Let us know in the comments below.
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Thank you for watching, and remember:
Let's go again.
We need to fail down here so we don't fail up there.
Neil, I was sorry to hear about your daughter.
I think it would be unreasonable to assume that it wouldn't have some effect.
I married Neil because I wanted a normal life.
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.