Truth Telling in Government and Politics

CRITICAL MOMENTS, MAJOR MOVEMENTS AND PIVOTAL PEOPLE

When the Eagle Landed, PR Delivered the Message Back to Earth

1969

The dawning of the Space Age was a cosmic Cold War battle for the future, waged by engineers and astronauts in the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1957, the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, rattled American confidence.

Twelve years later, the Apollo 11 mission to the moon rewrote the narrative into a U.S. triumph viewed around the world, thanks in part to the work of Julian Scheer, assistant administrator for public affairs with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Scheer, a former newspaper reporter, understood the need to build public support for a program that cost as much as $4 billion a year (about $32 billion in 2022 dollars) to assert American dominance in space. With the support of then-NASA Administrator James Webb, he connected reporters with astronauts and even engineers and technicians. Each launch, whether manned or unmanned, generated new enthusiasm.

Despite concerns about adding to the payload of the Apollo 11 mission, Scheer insisted that the moon landing must be televised for the world to watch. It wasn’t going to be a secretive endeavor. “One thing I kept emphasizing was, ‘We’re not the Soviets. Let’s do this thing the American way,’” Scheer later said.

At 3:17 p.m. Central time on July 20, 1969, when the lunar module detached from the main spacecraft and landed in the moon’s Sea of Tranquility, Commander Neil Armstrong’s voice crackled through speakers at mission control in Houston: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

A few hours later, a black-and-white Westinghouse camera with a 16 mm lens transmitted a grainy image of Armstrong emerging from the module. He famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours on the surface of the moon as Michael Collins orbited in the command module. CBS broadcast the Apollo 11 mission continuously for 31 hours. About 600 million people — one-fifth of the world’s population — watched Armstrong’s first steps on the moon.

Scheer understood the enduring power of the moment, but he let the story speak for itself. “We don’t put out publicity releases. We put out news releases,” said Scheer, who died in 2001. After the astronauts returned, they were welcomed as heroes in ticker-tape parades. They went on a round-the-world “Giantstep” goodwill tour to two dozen countries. Scheer later received NASA’s highest recognition: a Distinguished Service Medal.