"one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind&quo

When Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon, he said:

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"

Isn't this contradictory? "man" and "mankind" are synonymous in this context, and mean the human race.

If he actually said "a" though, shouldn't there be a pause between "for" and "man" to indicate the missing "a". I don't hear one.

Regardless of whether he actually said "a" or not, he MEANT to say "a man." Therefore "man" and "mankind" had different meanings.

Why don't they just ask the guy what he said?. Rather than wasting time analysing communications?.

Interviewer: Mr Armstrong did you say "that's one small step for A man"?
Armstrong: "Yes"
Interviewer: thank you very much for your time.

hmmm... probably isn't MR, probably still has a rank.

It amazes me the amount of time people waste doing research into strange things. Some guy spent two years studying cows to see why they sit/lay down. Conclusion: because the cows are tired. Two years- for that! LOL