Authors
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
“Image permanently imprinted on the surface of Moon today onwards by the tyres of Rover. As there is no air on moon hence these marks will be there forever.”
The image is going viral on social media platforms and messenger platforms such as WhatsApp.
Also read: 2-Year-Old Animated Video Shared As Video Of Chandrayaan-3 Landing on The Moon Captured By NASA
Fact
Newschecker investigated the image claiming to show the national emblem imprint on moon. On a close analysis of the image that is going viral, Newschecker noted a watermark on the bottom left corner of the image, which read “Krishanshu Garg”.
Taking a clue, we looked up Krishanshu Garg on Twitter and found a profile with the handle @KrishanshuGarg.
We found several replies to similar posts, where Krishanshu has pointed out that the image is an art work.
We then reached out to Krishanshu, a space enthusiast from Lucknow, who once again reiterated that the image was an artwork and not the actual imprint of the wheels of the Pragyaan rover on the lunar surface.
“Everyone has been excited about Chandrayaan-3 this time. People had made artwork of VL already landed on moon to wish ISRO All the Best. I thought out of the box and made an edit of the imprints that Pragyan Rover will leave behind as confirmed by ISRO and used it just as a countdown for Landing and A tweet with “Can’t wait for this”…. My motive was never to spread any sort of fake news I posted the countdown story 10 hours before the landing but I don’t know how people spread it as real image after landing. Even I’m shocked. I made it using Photoshop,” he told Newschecker.
We also found the same image in the highlight section of Krishanshu’s Instagram page.
On more probe, we found a tweet by Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi, who shared images of the wheel of the Pragyaan rover, which did infact have the embossed ISRO logo and the national emblem. But this was different from the viral image, reiterating that the image that is going viral is not the actual imprint that will be left on the moon, but a an artistic imagery of the same.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Responses by Krishanshu Garg on his Twitter page @KrishanshuGarg
Tweet by Gujarat Minister Harsh Sanghavi, dated July 14, 2023
Responses by Krishanshu Garg to Newschecker
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Authors
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.
