Here is the speech that Nixon would have read if Apollo astronauts died on the moon

Bill Safire July 18, 1969.

IN THE EVENT OF THE MOON CATASTROPHE:

Fate has ordered that men who have gone to the moon to explore in peace will remain on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for humanity in their sacrifice.

These two men sacrifice their lives for the noblest purpose of humanity: the search for truth and understanding

; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the peoples of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth who dared to send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they made the people of the world feel united; in their sacrifice, they bind more closely the fraternity of the man.

In ancient times, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times we do pretty much the same thing, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow and will surely find the way home. The search for the man will not be refused. But these men were the first, and they will remain first in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up to the moon in the coming nights will know that there is a corner of another world that is forever humanity.