The bootprint on the Moon, 16-24 July 1969

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1969, numbered "NASA AS11-40-5880" (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso, 25, 4 x 20,3 cm, laminated (probably the original condition) with loss of lamination in the upper right corner

This famous photograph was taken by Buzz Aldrin to provide a visual record of the relative density of the surface in a “soil mechanics test” and is now one of the most iconic of the entire space program.

“I felt buoyant and full of goose pimples when I stepped down on the surface, I immediately looked down at my feet and became intrigued with the peculiar properties of the lunar dust.” Buzz Aldrin (NASA SP-350, p. 11.4).

After taking his first step on the Moon (which he did not photograph), Neil Armstrong reported (at T+109:24:48 after launch): “Yes, the surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.”

Literature:
LIFE, 8 August 1969, ppg. 20-21; LIFE, 11 August 1969; Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., pg. 214; Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, Reynolds, pg. 1.