He really did say it right (probably)

Pretty much for the rest of his life and history after he stepped on the Moon, Neil Armstrong was thought to have flubbed his epic first line when he actually stepped off the LEM onto the lunar surface. 

What everyone back on Earth heard him say was:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

What he wanted to say and apparently thought he said was:
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Which makes a lot more sense.

Even though, according to the article I'm about to provide a link to, he admitted that you couldn't hear that important "a". 

Was Neil Armstrong's 'small step' one-liner misquoted?

So I was somewhat happy to read this article, in which an analysis of the actual recording (performed in 2006, but this is the first I've heard of it) indicated that Neil had actually likely said what he wanted to say correctly, but so fast that the radio transmission didn't pick it up.  And I think we can all forgive him for being a little excited, even though he was reputed to be very cool under pressure.

But you don't get to be the first man to step on the Moon very often.