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Apollo 11

 

             The article from The Onion is called "Holy Shit Man Walks on Fucking Moon" and it makes a satirical change of the first men to walk on the moon. First and most noticeable is the abundance of profanity used throughout the article. In real life Armstrong, Aldrin and Collin's didn't use the kind of language that is used, but the importance of their unforgettable journey was obviously an amazing and emotional time. The use of profanity throughout the story is changes the highly trained and motivated astronauts into more of a trucker type excursion with the reaction of an nearly impossible and unforeseen journey.
             Instead of this event being a monumental feat, they downgraded it into a vulgar "swearing fest" in which the astronauts and Houston seemed to try to out do each other. There is no better example of this than in the radio dialogue between Houston and the astronauts, according to The Onion, "This is Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed. Jesus H. Christ, Houston. We"re on the fucking moon. Over (Dikkers)." Most people know that was not the conversation, but rather," Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed (New York Times)." This may have been altered to help exaggerate the pure importance of the event and possibly to illustrate how a majority of people back on earth would have handled this situation.
             During Armstrong and Aldrin's stay on the moon, The Onion, says that they spent two hours playing a game related to "Knock-you-on-your-ass," when in fact they were just trying to adjust to the difference in gravity on the moon. The Onion turned what the two astronauts were trying to do (adjust to the gravity) into what sounds like a children's game thus downplaying the significance of this monumental event. The moon's gravity is about one-sixth of the gravity on earth in addition to the space suits making mobility very difficult on the lunar surface (Jones).
             Before the two astronauts completed their mission they placed an American flag in the ground and a plaque along side it.


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