Fact Check: These videos don’t show visuals shot by Chandrayaan-3
NewsMeter found that both videos do not show the recordings of Chandrayaan-3.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 22 Aug 2023 10:49 AM GMT
Screengrab of the X posts.
Hyderabad: As Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon’s surface on August 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 21 released images of the far side of the lunar surface. The images were captured on August 19 by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC), onboard Chandrayaan-3. Earlier, ISRO also released three videos of the moon captured by the lunar exploration mission.
In light of the space programme, several CGI-generated and animated videos are doing rounds on social media. Users are sharing many types of posts claiming to show the visuals captured by the Chandrayaan-3.
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared a video showing craters of various sizes and depths on what appears like the moon’s surface with the caption, “Chandrayaan - 3 Moon view.”
(Image Credit: X/@BrianRoemmele)
Another X user shared a video claiming that it shows the Earth from the moon’s surface. “Amazing Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Look how Earth looks from the Moon,” read the caption.
(Image Credit: X/@jkssb_aspirants)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that both videos do not show the recordings of Chandrayaan-3.
Video 1
On performing a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found it on the website, Flash Movie, an online store which sells computer-generated videos and illustrations. The caption read, “Textured surface of the moon close-up in motion. 3d animation. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.”
(Image Credit: Flash Movie)
We also found a still from the video on the stock photo website iStock published on December 3, 2020. The title read, “Textured surface of the moon close-up in motion. 3d illustration. Elements of this image furnished by NASA stock photo.”
Hence, we can conclude that the first video is computer generated. It does not show visuals of the moon’s surface from Chandrayaan-3.
Video 2
We noticed that the video was first posted by an X user named Mithlesh Keshari. He shared the video on August 20 with the caption, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Look how Earth looks from the Moon.”
We skimmed through the comment on the post and found Keshari responding to other users that the video is ‘AI-generated and was edited before posting.’ He also mentioned that it was part of his documentary.
(Image Credit: X/@mkeshari)
NewsMeter could not independently verify the origin of the second video. However, there is no information available about it on the official website or Twitter account of ISRO. Hence, we conclude it doesn’t show the actual visuals of Earth from the moon taken by Chandrayaan-3.
