Misattributed Moon Images Spread During Artemis II Flyby
The Facts
- Misattributed images of the moon circulated widely on social media during the Artemis II lunar flyby earlier this week, with some astrophotographers' telescope images falsely presented as footage captured by NASA astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft.
- Ukrainian photographer Ildar Ibatullin's detailed mineral image of the moon — created from tens of thousands of frames shot with a 150mm telescope and a Canon 550D DSLR — was shared online as if it had been taken during the Artemis II mission.
- Texas-based astrophotographer Adam Jackson said his backyard moon video had "been making the rounds all across the world," often falsely described as having been recorded roughly 380,000 kilometers (236,121 miles) away in space.
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The Spin
Narrative A
AI slop is actively poisoning public understanding of the Artemis II mission, with fake moon videos racking up millions of views on X and TikTok while real NASA imagery gets ignored. Conspiracy thinking has always existed, but AI tools now make fabricated content nearly indistinguishable from reality, giving fringe sceptics a megaphone they never had before. The post-truth political climate is making this worse, and platforms are simply not moving fast enough to stop the spread.
Narrative B
Although the misattributed Artemis II images are concerning, cracking down on AI-generated fakes and "misinformation" without clear legal guardrails risks undermining free expression. Vague rules and broad takedown mandates could sweep up satire and legitimate speech. Deepfake regulation must be narrowly tailored to avoid chilling innovation and protected speech. Getting this balance wrong hands governments and platforms unchecked power over public discourse.
Metaculus Prediction
Public Figures
The Controversies
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