Fact Check: No — NASA Did Not 'Admit' the 1969 Moon Landing Was Fake

Overview

A viral social-media post in December 2025 claimed that NASA had "dropped the mother of all bombshells" by admitting it "didn't go to the moon." The claim — circulated as a 12-minute video and an accompanying article — is false. There is no verifiable evidence that NASA has ever conceded the Apollo moon landings were staged.

What The Viral Post Showed

The video and article offered no official NASA statement, clip, screenshot, transcript excerpt, or any other primary-source evidence supporting the assertion that NASA never landed on the Moon. Fact-checkers examined the materials and found that the post relied on recycled imagery, misinterpreted remarks, and content from a website with a record of misinformation.

Images And Origins

Investigators traced the larger thumbnail image to a 2013 NASA news conference marking the completion of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. In that briefing, the moon was mentioned only in the context of future exploration efforts. The smaller thumbnail originated from a 2008 Swedish National Debt Office print advertisement and had no connection to NASA or any admission about the Apollo missions.

Misinterpreted Artemis II Quote

"This is the first time we're going to send humans to the moon and [have] humans in low-Earth orbit." — Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander (Sept. 24, 2025)

Read in isolation, the opening clause could be misconstrued as suggesting NASA had never been to the Moon. In context, Wiseman meant Artemis II would be the first mission in which humans travel to the Moon while other people are simultaneously aboard a low-Earth-orbit platform (the International Space Station). The ISS has hosted crews continuously since 2000, well after the last Apollo landing in 1972.

NASA Responses And Public Record

Since the Artemis II briefing, NASA officials have reaffirmed that the Apollo landings occurred. On Oct. 30, 2025, acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy posted on X: "Yes, @KimKardashian, We've Been to the Moon Before… 6 Times!" Public transcripts, historical records, and NASA statements consistently document the six successful Apollo lunar landings that placed humans on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

Source Of The Claim

The video and article originated from The People's Voice, a rebranded iteration of News Punch — outlets previously flagged for publishing false or misleading content. The viral post repackaged old images, misread an Artemis II quote, and offered no new evidence to overturn the extensive historical and documentary record of the Apollo program.

Conclusion

There is no credible evidence that NASA "admitted" it never went to the Moon. The viral claim is false: it relies on out-of-context quotes, unrelated imagery, and a problematic source rather than any verifiable NASA admission. Independent documentation and official NASA communications continue to confirm that U.S. astronauts landed on the Moon during the Apollo program.

Sources

• C-SPAN: "NASA Artemis II Crew Holds News Conference," Sept. 24, 2025
• X (Formerly Twitter): Sean Duffy post, Oct. 30, 2025
• NASA: International Space Station overview
• 2013 NASA News Conference Recording (COTS Completion)
• Ad Archive: 2008 Swedish National Debt Office Print Ad