Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, Queen Elizabeth and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin.Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty
For Neil Armstrong, landing on the moon went smoother than meetingQueen Elizabeth!
After Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins' historicApollo11 mission — which touched down on the moon on July 20, 1969 — the three astronauts embarked on a world tour that included an October 14 visit to meet the British royal family at Buckingham Palace. However, the first man to walk on the moon was suffering from a cold. He was so ill that he considered skipping the royal visit to rest, but his wife wasn’t going to miss her chance to rub elbows with the Queen.
“She told me that if I had to be embalmed, we were going to the palace. She wanted to see the place,” the famously private Armstrong, who died in 2012, later shared.
But Armstrong’s sickness resulted in an awkward moment. While trying to speak to the Queen, he began to cough on her — and when he tried to apologize, he only coughed more.Queen Elizabethreportedly reacted in a lighthearted way, lifting her hands in mock surrender.
Queen Elizabeth and Neil Armstrong.PA Images via Getty
British royal family meets American astronauts.PA Images via Getty
But Armstrong wasn’t the only one with an embarrassing story to tell. In 2016, Aldrin revealedon Twitterthat Collins nearly had a scary incident due to his attempt to stay respectful to the monarch.
“Mike Collins almost fell down the stairs trying not to turn his back onQueen ElizabethII,” Aldrin wrote.
Ahead ofApollo11, NASA asked leaders from 73 countries to share messages, which were reduced in size and etched on a disc that was left behind on the moon.Queen Elizabethsaid, “On behalf of the British people, I salute the skills and courage which have brought man to the moon. May this endeavor increase the knowledge and well-being of mankind.”
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source: people.com
