Space travel. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century humans have done the impossible and flown outside of Earth's atmosphere and into the infinite beyond. In 1961 we sent the first man into space and into orbit. In 1963 we sent the first woman into orbit. And in 1969 we landed on the moon.
Space travel is one of the greatest achievements in human history.
And at the center is the International Space Station (ISS). Both a marvel of scientific collaboration and international cooperation, the ISS has stood looking down on Earth for almost 20 consecutive years of space missions.
However, as many of you may be aware, there are still many radicalized conspiracy theorists out there who deny the existence of the ISS. And the moon landing. Or that humans have ever traveled to outer space at all. In the face of all these scientific and human accomplishments, the big question is...why?
We can, in part, trace the skepticism back to one video, taken aboard the ISS:
Pictured here is Dutch scientist and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers. This video shows the astronaut tightening a screw, which then comes loose, and appears to fall to the ground.
As if Kuipers were in a regular gravity environment. As if Kuipers were not in the zero-g environment on the ISS, in which case the screw should just have floated off to the side.
Case closed? The ISS is a film set on Earth? Right?
Not quite. Recent findings suggest that this video may indeed have been faked. Faked by Roscosmos (the Russian space agency), in a continued trend of Russian disinformation. It is implied that astronaut Kuipers was bribed, or even coerced, into taking part in the filming of this video. But what we can say for certain, is that this video is in no way associated with NASA or the ESA.
Why?
It's simple, really. Russian propaganda. The Russians are spreading misinformation with the intent of discrediting NASA. The Russians continue their Cold War feud with America trying claim superiority in space. Like any smear campaign, they're hoping that NASA loses public support, funding, and credibility. And they are hoping to prevent the growth of the recently-formed Space Force. Keep in mind that the Space Force, although commonly mis-attributed to President Donald Trump, is actually a bipartisan effort by Congressmen Jim Shooter and Mike Rogers, and is an important step forward for the United States' space program.
However, the United States shows no sign of slowing. Recently (30 May, 2020), NASA sent two astronauts to the ISS from American soil for the first time in 11 years, courtesy of the SpaceX rocket Crew Demo-2, with more missions planned in the near future.
Always be careful of Russian misinformation. And thank NASA astronauts and American heroes like Elon Musk, for their brave work.