Astronauts

Does consumption of irradiated foods cause cancer and other diseases? No, that's not true: Food irradiation is a well-studied, FDA-approved process that kills pathogens associated with foodborne infections; thus, also preserving food for longer. There is no evidence that it may cause cancer. The claim appeared in a TikTok video on September 6, 2022. The caption began: @Bonnie #knowledgeableone333 Food…

Does a viral video circulated in July 2022 show NASA generating rain clouds and producing its own weather? No, that's not true. A video authentically shows a space shuttle rocket booster test, not cloud creation. The rocket booster in question uses hydrogen and oxygen and the "clouds" shown are steam from the rocket's cooling system. A video shared on Facebook…

Did NASA stop investigating the deepest layers of the world's oceans 34 years ago? No, that's not true: NASA's main exploration ventures are in space, but, according to the agency's website, it still explores the ocean, too. A claim asserting that NASA has stopped its oceanographic work appeared in an Instagram video on August 30, 2022. The video appears to…

Does a reflection in an astronaut's helmet visor from the Apollo 17 moon landing prove that it was a hoax? No, that's not true: The reflection seen in astronaut Gene Cernan's helmet visor shows astronaut Harrison Schmidt standing in front of him on the surface of the moon in 1972. "The view is a little distorted due to the curvature…

Has NASA "all but admitted the [moon] landings were fake" in the past 12 months, but mainstream media is not reporting on the revelations so the public doesn't know? No, that's not true: The Apollo missions that orbited and landed on the moon really happened. There has been no new information, no "admission" from NASA that would undermine the historical…

Did NASA hand over control of the International Space Station (ISS) to Russia after a Russian official threatened to crash it into Earth? No, that's not true: A NASA spokesperson told Lead Stories that a long-established ceremonial change of command "does not represent overall control of ISS. That remains unchanged with the crew." There was no threat to "crash it…

Did then-President Richard Nixon fake a phone call to the moon when astronauts first landed in 1969? No, that's not true: According to AT&T, the call went from Washington, D.C., to Houston to the moon using a capsule communicator. The call was made using "telephone-radio transmission," the National Archives wrote. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on June 18,…

Did Buzz Aldrin reveal that the Apollo 11 mission was faked when he corrected Conan O'Brien's recollection of having watched the moon landing live on TV as a child by telling him that what he watched was an animation? No, that's not true: Buzz Aldrin made a technical distinction to clarify that the live TV broadcasts showed an animation of…

Is a post listing more than a dozen duties, selection requirements and obligations for honor guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery entirely accurate? No, that's not true: While some of the claims in this post, which has circulated online since at least 2004, describe authentic practices of the honor guard, others are either false,…

Does the mismatch between lunar boot prints and the smooth sole of Neil Armstrong's "space boot" confirm that U.S. astronauts never walked on the moon? No, that's not true: This recirculated hoax is missing context, as Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew wore inner pressure space boots with a smooth tread inside "overshoes" that left the rough textured boot…