Animation Video Viral As Moon Landing Footage of Chandrayaan-3 By NASA

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a milestone on 23 August as the Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down on the Moon’s surface. India has become the first country to successfully land in the southern polar region of the Moon and the fourth one to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, Russia, and China.

In the midst of jubilant celebrations, a video depicting a moon landing went viral on social media. It has been claimed that NASA released the footage that shows the real landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon.

Fact Crescendo received this video with fact-check requests on our WhatsApp Tipline (9049053770).

We found that the claim along with the viral video is false. The video is, in fact, an animated representation of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

WHAT’S THE CLAIM?

In the viral video, you can see a spacecraft flying over the Moon and then gently landing on the Moon’s surface.

Users are sharing this video with a claim that it shows Chandrayaan-3 landing on the Moon, and the American space agency NASA released this video.

Original Post – Facebook | Facebook | Twitter

FACT-CHECK

In the video, there’s a voice that says, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Using keyword search, we learned that astronaut Neil Armstrong had said this line when the Apollo 11 successfully landed on the Moon in 1969.

On 20 July 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon’s surface. 

We found the actual audio file on NASA’s website, along with a detailed transcript of the mission.

Towards the end of the viral video, you can also hear the line: “Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.” 

Original Website – NASA

This makes us wonder why would NASA use audio from the Apollo Mission for the supposed Chandrayaan-3 moon landing video.

Using Google reverse image search, we found a video on YouTube from 2021. It turns out that the viral clip comes from this older YouTube video.

The uploader of the video, Haze Gray Art, clearly said in the video’s title that it’s about the Apollo 11 moon Landing. You can watch a longer version of this video here.

This YouTube channel usually shares videos about space missions and such things.

The video that’s being shared is not actually showing a real moon landing. Instead, it’s made using animation. 

Haze Gray Art had mentioned on Twitter back in 2018 that he creates these animation videos using computer graphics. They are not actual recordings of the event. It’s more like a creative visualization.

Real Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing

ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on 14 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh.

On 23 August at 6.04 pm, Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down on the Moon’s surface.

ISRO has released real footage taken just prior to touchdown.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that the viral video is unrelated to the Chandrayaan-3 mission. In fact, the viral video is an animation created by Haze Gray Art showing the Apollo 11 moon landing. You can watch the real Apollo 11 moon landing video here.

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