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First Footprint on the Moon
First Footprint on the Moon
Public Domain, NASA Image

First Footprint on the Moon

Artist (American, born 1930)
DateJuly 20, 1969
Mediumchromogenic print
Dimensions28.1 x 37.9 cm (image), 37.3 x 36.3 cm (sheet)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineGift of Howard G. Davis, III A.K.A. David Davis
Object number2014.1241
Label TextDespite its poetic name, this famous photograph does not depict the first human footprint on the Moon. Neil Armstrong took that tentative step from the landing pad at the bottom of the Lunar Module ladder. It was in the shade over the entire two-and-a-half hours of extra-vehicular activity. One of the astronauts’ assignments was the “Soil Mechanics Investigation” of the regolith, or moon dust. For this key scientific image, Aldrin photographed a patch of undisturbed soil in the sunlight. Then, after impressing his boot clearly in the surface, he shot this, Frame AS11-40-5877.
On View
Not on view