https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Deguspice 2026-04-15T03:37:26Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1484:_Apollo_Speeches&diff=84245 2015-02-09T08:18:40Z

<p>Deguspice: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1484<br /> | date = February 9, 2015<br /> | title = Apollo Speeches<br /> | image = apollo_speeches.png<br /> | titletext = While our commitment to recycling initiatives has been unwavering, this is not a cost any of us should be expected to pay.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|The framework is laid out. Needs a much more in-depth explanation, however.}}As explained in the comic, Nixon Staffer William Safire wrote two speeches for the United States President to deliver depending on whether or not the Apollo 11 return launch was successful. The reason for two different speeches having been written was that the return launch had an outcome that could not be predicted with certainty. Such an uncertain event could be called a contingency, making the speeches &quot;[http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/events/centennials/nixon/exhibit/nixon-online-exhibit-disaster.html contingency speeches]&quot;.<br /> <br /> The rest of the comic runs with this theme, making the false claim that Safire had written several other such contingency speeches for increasingly unlikely possibilities. First listed is the speech to be delivered in the event that the astronauts were left stranded on the moon. Laying on top of that is a speech to be delivered in the case that the spacecraft goes missing altogether, which is relatively unlikely. The speeches after that deal with the following contingencies: the astronauts had stolen the ship and piloted it to Mars; upon landing, more astronauts were found in the ship; the ship had hit the U.S.S. Hornet and crushed Nixon; and the ship had been sold for scrap and crushed along with the astronauts inside.<br /> <br /> The title text builds upon this last contingency speech, delving into the irony of the horror of the spacecraft's recycling and its passengers' resulting deaths despite the U.S.'s commitment to recycling initiatives.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript}}<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

Deguspice https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1484:_Apollo_Speeches&diff=84244 2015-02-09T08:18:12Z

<p>Deguspice: /* Explanation */ Added link to scan of the speech at the National Archives.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1484<br /> | date = February 9, 2015<br /> | title = Apollo Speeches<br /> | image = apollo_speeches.png<br /> | titletext = While our commitment to recycling initiatives has been unwavering, this is not a cost any of us should be expected to pay.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|The framework is laid out. Needs a much more in-depth explanation, however.}}As explained in the comic, Nixon Staffer William Safire wrote two speeches for the United States President to deliver depending on whether or not the Apollo 11 return launch was successful. The reason for two different speeches having been written was that the return launch had an outcome that could not be predicted with certainty. Such an uncertain event could be called a contingency, making the speeches &quot;[http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/events/centennials/nixon/exhibit/nixon-online-exhibit-disaster.html]contingency speeches]&quot;.<br /> <br /> The rest of the comic runs with this theme, making the false claim that Safire had written several other such contingency speeches for increasingly unlikely possibilities. First listed is the speech to be delivered in the event that the astronauts were left stranded on the moon. Laying on top of that is a speech to be delivered in the case that the spacecraft goes missing altogether, which is relatively unlikely. The speeches after that deal with the following contingencies: the astronauts had stolen the ship and piloted it to Mars; upon landing, more astronauts were found in the ship; the ship had hit the U.S.S. Hornet and crushed Nixon; and the ship had been sold for scrap and crushed along with the astronauts inside.<br /> <br /> The title text builds upon this last contingency speech, delving into the irony of the horror of the spacecraft's recycling and its passengers' resulting deaths despite the U.S.'s commitment to recycling initiatives.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript}}<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

Deguspice