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One small step

By The World ⋅ November 22, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Half a century ago, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in the space race. Now, two British actors are on a worldwide tour of the play “One Small Step,” a decidedly low-tech recreation of the high-tech space race. Anchor Lisa Mullins spoke with them in Oxford, England. Download MP3



[Update] The audio on this report was updated on Nov. 23, 2010.

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Audio extra:Classically trained British actor Robin Millingham tells anchor Lisa Mullins how he mastered the Kennedy accent
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Discussion

9 comments for “One small step”

  • Patrick Clonan

    You referred to the nazi rocket man as a builder of German rockets. This sever minimalism of the terror weapons created and used by him is a denial of the truth and a disservice to your listeners. You misrepresented Mr. VonBrunner. He was responsible for many civilian deaths during WWII.

  • Ryan VB

    The piece on “One Small Step” was well done and I fully appreciated it. One correction: Vladimir Komarov died after his chutes became tangled and he hit land, not water. However hitting water with failed chutes would have been equally fatal. The Soviets always landed on land because the sheer size of the old USSR made it convenient, even with a craft way off target. The Americans landed in the water because their huge navy allowed them to use the oceans around the globe for the same reason. But the Soviets trained for water landings and the Americans trained for land landings (!) should they *really* go off course.

  • John O’Dowd

    Did I hear Lisa Mullins right? Please tell me she did not say Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space in 1941! Please tell me my ears were wrong. Gagrin flew into space in 1961.

  • David

    My personal and long-standing protest against the expectations of ‘adulthood’ is completely validated by seeing two ‘grown men’ play like boys, with the same inventive resourcefulness, but with such sensitivity that their play becomes captivating and moving (and totally fun). However, I must point out a very serious flaw in the scripting, namely the part when Neil Armstrong exits the lander, and speaks the universally misquoted words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Apart from being simply redundant and basically nonsensical, it is also not quite what he said. The real words spoken were, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” In the interest of history and complete sentences I implore the performers to make the adjustment to the script, if they have not already done so. Beyond that, I only wonder if they have plans to perform in the Boston area again?

    • Space Historian

      Actually, no, the real words spoken were “one small step for man.” He meant to say “one small step for a man” but misspoke.

      At one time, it was considered that the word “a” may have been lost in transmission – but a high-tech audio analysis the other year showed this not to be the case.

      So if they amended as you request, they would be amending history in an incorrect way.

  • Susan Frank

    This is so great it makes me cry:-)
    The acting is shamelessly bright, the sets and props –well–adorable!
    I was a junior year college kid abroad in Rome in 1969
    studying Latin and Greek and living in a dorm on the grounds of a small convent. Mother Superior invited a few of us into her room to watch the return of the Apollo moon astronauts. She and the other nuns with us there shed happy tears when they knew the men were home safe.

  • A Ibay

    Some factual errors:

    1) Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, not 1941
    2) Soyuz 1, carrying Komarov, descended over land, not the ocean

  • John McPherson

    As a former broadcasy news editor I must comment that the reporter’s errors in this story are absolutely inexcusable. She reports Yuri Gagarin’s space flight took place in 1941!!! WTF! Also, she comments that Soyuz 1 crashed into the ocean, when in fact only US spacecraft landed in water… Soviet spacecraft landed on the ground, generally in Kazakhstan. Send this one back to school for a proper education…

  • Brandon

    It’s also worth noting that President Kennedy did not deliver his famous “I believe this nation should commit itself…” line as part of the State of the Union address, as Ms. Mullins stated.

    That line, along with the general idea of the Apollo program, was delivered in a speech to a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961.