Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Video of astronaut Sunita Williams giving a tour of the International Space Station as she prepares to return to Earth after 127 days.
Fact
Video dates back to 2012; the Indian-origin astronaut is set to return in February 2025.
A 7-minute 40-second video, purportedly showing a woman giving a tour aboard a spacecraft, has recently gone viral with the claim that the Indian-origin American astronaut, Sunita Williams, is preparing to return to Earth after spending 127 days in space.
The archived version of the post can be seen here. We received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, along with the same claim, requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Sunita Williams Earth return”, which led us to this latest article on the astronaut, published on October 16, 2024, by US-based media outlet GBH.
NASA astronaut and Massachusetts native Sunita Williams is the commander of the International Space Station (ISS) and part of the Boeing Starliner crew flight test. What was supposed to be an eight-day test turned into an eight-month mission when the spacecraft experienced mechanical difficulties, according to the report, stating that NASA has determined that it was too risky for the astronauts to come home on the ship and the Starliner craft returned to Earth without a crew on September 6. “Williams and her fellow crew member, Butch Wilmore, are expected to return home in February 2025,” read the report.
Similar reports can be seen here and here, stating that the two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, will now come home on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February 2025, contradicting the viral claim. They will reportedly accompany Crew-9 mission members – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov – on their return spaceflight in February 2025.
An August 24, 2024 NASA press release confirmed that Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025 and that they will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
When Was The Video Taken?
Newschecker noticed the watermark on the viral video reading, “Unilad Adventure”, following which we ran a relevant keyword search that led us to this May 24, 2019 Facebook post by the media outlet, featuring the same video and headlined, “Astronaut Gives Home Tour In Space”.
A further search led us to this Unilad article, dated December 8, 2023, featuring a video of Williams giving a tour of the orbital laboratory while directing us to a longer 25-minute video on NASA’s Youtube channel, uploaded on November 20, 2012.
“In her final days as Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams of NASA recorded an extensive tour of the orbital laboratory and downlinked the video on Nov. 18, just hours before she, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency departed in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft for a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. The tour includes scenes of each of the station’s modules and research facilities with a running narrative by Williams of the work that has taken place and which is ongoing aboard the orbital outpost,” read the description of the video, titled “Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory”. The viral excerpts can be seen at the 08:40, 14:05 marks, among others, confirming it is the same tour.
We also came across news reports, seen here and here, debunking the viral video, stating that Williams and Wilmore are expected to spend around 240 days in space before their return in early 2025.
Also Read: Video of Vandalised Durga Idol In Hyderabad Viral With False Communal Narrative
Conclusion
A 2012 video of Sunita Williams giving a tour of the space station is being shared with the false claim that it shows the astronaut returning to Earth after spending 127 days in space.
Result: False
Sources
NASA press release, August 24, 2024
Youtube video, NASA, November 20, 2012
Facebook post, Unilad Adventure, May 24, 2019
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
