Nasa launched the Artemis II mission last week, sending the first crewed spacecraft to the Moon in more than 50 years, but a small, dogged group of sceptics has claimed the whole thing is a hoax.
Media outlets, including The National, have posted videos and still photos from the Nasa mission to social media only to receive comments from users around the world insisting it is a sham.
"So fake …" wrote one sceptic commenting on a clip of the Artemis II crew speaking from space.
Another user on Facebook wrote under the same video: "It's like when you were a kid and thought Santa was real." Still another said: "They must be getting a huge action payday."
Sceptisim over Nasa's space exploration missions, particularly the original Moon landing, is far from new.
A 2022 survey of US residents conducted by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire showed that 10 per cent of respondents thought "Nasa faked the Moon landings".
The poll also found that a similar percentage believed that the Earth was flat, and that Covid-19 vaccines contained secretly implanted tracking microchips.
"Acceptance or openness to conspiracy beliefs was significantly higher among certain subgroups, including millennials and supporters of President [Donald] Trump," a report accompanying the survey read.
While those numbers might appear worrisome, the University of New Hampshire pointed out that "58 to 83 per cent agreed with statements of basic scientific facts – such as the...
From claims that TMC members were caught by the CRPF in West Bengal to an old, unrelated video falsely shared as a clip of PM Modi, here are five viral pieces of fake news that Team WebQoof debunk...