Nixon was prepared for astronaut eulogies:

When man first landed on the moon 30 years ago, President Richard Nixon had a speech all ready in case man would not get off again.

A contingency statement was prepared for Mr. Nixon, an eerie, poignant tribute that he would deliver while the astronauts were still alive but when there was no longer any hope for them.

“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace wills stay on the moon to rest in peace,” says the statement, incorporated in a memo titled “In Event of Moon Disaster.”

The memo is dated July 18, 1969, two days before the moon landing.

Mr. Nixon never had to act on it. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin made it safely off the moon, back to the command module with Michael Collins, and home. The words were drafted by William Safire, then a Nixon speechwriter and now a columnist for the New York Times.

The memo ended up in the National Archives and was reported by the Los Angeles Times. Associated Press