Video shows Neil deGrasse Tyson describing how NASA faked the moon landing.
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Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson poses at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Jan. 6, 2023, in Palm Springs. (AP)
Neil deGrasse Tyson did not expose NASA conspiracy about moon landing
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NASA did not fake the moon landing.
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The Instagram clip took a joke about the moon landing conspiracy out of context. In the full interview, Neil deGrasse Tyson was rejecting claims that the moon landing was fake.
Did renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson expose how the moon landing was faked?
It sure looks like it in a misleading video posted to Instagram on July 17.
"So, NASA goes to Hollywood and they say, 'OK, we gotta fake this moon landing," Tyson says in the video clip. "So what, what will it require?'"
Tyson then goes on to answer that question. Responding theoretically, he says it will need a real launch so people will believe it, set cues so that the dust falls correctly, and actors on contraptions that would emulate the moon’s altered gravity.
A caption on the video includes the hashtags "#earthisflat1411," "#fakemoonlanding" and "#nasahoax." "They have to tell the truth no matter what," it says. "Hiding in plain sight."
The Instagram video was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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In reality, this clip was taken from a larger interview in which Tyson sought to refute moon landing conspiracy theories.
In a video posted on VladTV, the YouTube account belonging to Vladimir Lyubovny, commonly known as DJ Vlad, Lyubovny asked Tyson to respond to people who believe the first moon landing was faked. Tyson prefaced his response with a warning about his forthcoming joke.
"This is a joke, actually," Tyson said. "This next one is a joke, but it’s a fun joke."
He then told the story in the video, and then finished with a punchline omitted from the Instagram post: that after exploring all that would be be needed to fake a moon landing, Hollywood executives told NASA, "We did all this research and we concluded that what’s way simpler than that is to film it on location."
Featured Fact-check
The moon landing was real. Despite decades of hoaxes that claim otherwise, videos and other evidence prove that as of July 16, 1969, mankind has been to the moon.
We rate the claim that a video shows Tyson saying that NASA faked the moon landing False.
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Our Sources
Instagram video (archived), July 17, 2023
DJ Vlad, Neil deGrasse Tyson addresses conspiracy theory that moon landing was fake (Part 11), May 5, 2023
NASA, July 20, 1969: One giant leap for mankind, July 20, 2019
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Neil deGrasse Tyson did not expose NASA conspiracy about moon landing
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