Good Luck, Mr Gorsky

It seems when Apollo 11 Mission astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement, but followed it with several remarks - the usual communications traffic between himself, the other astronauts and Mission Control. But 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 questioned him as to what the "Good luck, Mr Gorsky" statement meant. A few months ago (5th July '95) in Tampa Bay, Florida, Armstrong was answering questions following a speech, when a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question. Armstrong finally responded. It seems that Mr Gorsky had finally died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question.

When Neil Armstrong was a kid, he was playing baseball with his brother in the backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbours' bedroom window. His neighbours were Mr & Mrs Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick it up, 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!"

Borrowed from Nexus Magazine February 1996
Armstrong said in late 1995 that he first heard the anecdote delivered as a joke by comedian Buddy Hackett in California. NASA transcripts of the Apollo 11 mission record no such statement having been made by Armstrong.