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naughtysideofthebed t1_j9zsa8j wrote

I always felt it weird they consider him the 2nd man on the moon. I know he stepped out to the surface 2nd but they landed in the same craft. Splitting hairs in my opinion.

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blindgorgon t1_j9zyep5 wrote

Yeah a bit, but also at that time we knew far less about the environment of the moon. There was speculation that the dust may be so deep and soft that it’d engulf the lander. There was little way of knowing how the suits would do out in that environment, and radiation is a real threat when there’s no atmosphere or magnetosphere. Being first could have been a suicidal test for all we knew, so in some ways being first was definitely notable.

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GegenscheinZ t1_ja1754m wrote

I’ve heard he doesn’t like being called “the second”, like he lost a race or something. The only reason he got out second was because it was physically impossible for him to get around Neil to get out the door, the way the capsule was built.

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