Did Neil Armstrong Leave His Space Boots on the Moon During Apollo 11 Mission? Apparently Not!

Although it has been more than five decades since Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, conspiracy theories claiming that the landing was staged persist.

The image ostensibly depicts a comparison between Neil Armstrong's astronaut outfit and his footsteps on the Moon.

The boots appear to be relatively smooth, but the footprint has a marking. Thus, the two do not seem to go together, and Armstrong's boots do not match his alleged boot prints on the moon.

Here is another photo circulating on Facebook. More than 140 people shared the post. Since Facebook's attempts to combat fake news and disinformation, this post was tagged as 'false information.'

Apollo 11 Mission Leaves First Footprint on Moon

(Photo: NASA/Newsmakers via Getty Images)
376713 01: Neil Armstrong steps into history on July 20, 1969, by leaving the first human footprint on the surface of the moon. The 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon is being commemorated on July 20, 1999.

Footprint Photograph: What the Real Photo Shows

The idea circulating online does not include the 'lunar overshoes' worn by astronauts while resting their feet on the moon. Their footwear that made the footprint is what experts are seeing. Let us start with the footprint photograph.

Cameras were carried by Apollo 11 during the moon landing mission to collect data and capture the landing. Lunar Science and Exploration pointed out that Buzz Aldrin, not Armstrong, took the photograph of the questioned footprint. It is also a shot of Aldrin's own footprint, not Armstrong's, as seen in a set of photos on the Lunar and Planetary Institute's website.

Perhaps aware of this conspiracy idea, the institute also includes a second photograph of Aldrin going down the moon, as Lunar Science and Exploration shared.

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Since the photo of his spacesuit is real; you can view several photographs of it on NASA's website, including the bottoms of his shoes. Meanwhile, New Mexico Space Grant shared a photo showing that both Aldrin and Armstrong wore the lunar overshoes left behind.

Both the astronauts reportedly left approximately 100 tools, gear, and garbage on the surface of the moon, according to a Forbes article from 2017. The report said that NASA intended to get as many specimens of lunar rocks and dust as possible. It means that the crew had to leave behind anything they did not actually need to bring back to Earth.

Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong Wore Different Boots on the Moon

US Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Cathleen Lewis told AFP that the boot prints and the footwear depicted in the posts do not match the facts. Lewis explained that Armstrong and Aldrin used different footwear on the moon.

According to Lewis, all Apollo astronauts who stepped on the moon wore lunar overshoes. The distinctive footprint in the lunar surface dust was left by these enormous galoshes, which featured blue silicone soles.

They were created to provide the Apollo astronauts more traction when they were in the dust. Additional layers of white beta fabric and insulation materials were added to the lunar overshoes to protect them against unfiltered sun radiation.

Because Armstrong and Aldrin left their overshoes on the Moon due to weight reasons, Lewis said that the picture of Armstrong's outfit does not contain the lunar shoes.

She said that the overshoes, Personal Life Support Systems, and other equipment were used as ballast. For every gram they left on the Moon's surface, the astronomers were able to bring back one extra gram of lunar samples, Lewis said.