The first space mission around the moon in decades has been called “fake” after eagle-eyed cynics spotted an apparent “green screen glitch”. A video of the NASA crew being interviewed gained attention for all the wrong reasons when lettering appeared on a toy while others offered up an innocent explanation.
The small ball, which was used to demonstrate zero gravity in space, is seen rotating in front of an astronaut. Static lettering bizarrely appears on some blue sections of the ball.
The weird phenomenon led some excitable internet users to declare the whole mission was “fake”. One user wrote: “duh… even my dog knows it’s fake…”
Another claimed: “Fake as hell they really thought they can continue fooling people with all this current Technology that debunks everything in realtime…”
However, a user on X, formerly Twitter, insisted that the viral video was edited as he shared a clip of the original CNN interview, which did not have any of the static lettering.
Max DeLargo said: “A viral video of an Artemis 2 interview has been doing the rounds on X showing an apparent “blue screen” chromakey text glitch. However it is NOT present in the original.”
It has been claimed online that the static letters may have appeared as a result of TV being filmed with a smartphone. The broadcast was filmed using Chroma Key, which Adobe says is generally used on blue or green screen sets to overlay things or people onto different backgrounds.
This means the lettings may have appeared as a result of the original video being recorded with a phone.
Earlier today, the Artemis 2 capsule emerged from behind the Moon and ended the mission’s 40-minute loss of contact with Earth. Christina Koch was the first to communicate.
“Houston, Integrity, comm check,” she announced. “It is so great to hear from Earth again.”
With no signal achievable on the lunar far side, the capsule had been operating entirely autonomously. Computers aboard Orion ignited the engines at exactly the right moment to steer the spacecraft onto a return trajectory – an operation executed beyond the control of any ground controller.
When the connection was re-established, relief swept through Mission Control. Engineers observed data start to fill their screens; seconds later, Koch’s voice came through.
Uncertainty is a constant companion in manned spaceflight – no matter how routine a mission seems, nothing is certain until the crew is heard from again. Family members who had gathered to watch spent the communications blackout perusing briefing documents, deliberately diverting their attention from the clock.