Smooth Soles of Neil Armstrong's Boots Do Not Prove Moon Landing Was a Hoax

It’s true that the soles of the boots on Armstrong’s spacesuit do not match the footprints that were left behind on the moon. However, the reason behind this isn’t nearly as interesting as a hoax or a Nasa conspiracy. The Apollo 11 astronauts simply wore a treaded overshoe around the feet of their spacesuit which caused the discrepancy. 

In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission sent astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins into lunar orbit. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to step foot onto the lunar surface.

The extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits the astronauts wore included an inner ‘pressure boot’ with a smooth flexible sole that was worn while in space. Before walking on the moon, they strapped lunar overshoes around this inner shoe. The overshoe was treaded and left the iconic footprint.

The image of the footprint that’s included in the meme belonged to Aldrin and not Armstrong (however, the spacesuit that’s featured is Armstrong’s). In images of Aldrin exiting the Eagle lunar module, you can clearly see the treaded soles of his extravehicular overshoes.

After Armstrong and Aldrin’s iconic moonwalk, they left their overshoes on the lunar surface along with a number of other things. The astronauts abandoned anything that was not necessary for their return journey so that they could take as many samples of lunar rock and dust as possible. This is why current images of the Apollo 11 spacesuits don’t include the treaded overshoes.