Fact Check: Viral video of Earth is not Chandrayaan-3 recording

Hyderabad: A video showing visuals of Earth from space is viral on social media. Users claim that it shows visuals of Earth captured by Chandrayaan-3.

The claim comes after Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 20 announced that Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon’s surface on August 23 at around 6 pm.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is from October 2022. It was recorded by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti during her second mission to International Space Station (ISS). It has no links to the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

While analysing the video, we noticed that it was credited to the University of Iowa and Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit.

Taking a cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search on YouTube and found it published by a verified channel, Som ET, on April 13, 2023. The video is titled “Som ET - 83 - Earth - ISS 067-E-357091-357756.” In the caption, the full text of the credit for the video reads “University of Iowa, Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center (ISS067-E-357091-357756) eol.jsc.nasa.gov”

We also found the video published on October 13, 2022, on the official website of The European Space Agency (ESA) titled “Moonlight Timelapse.”

The description read, “Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Minerva”.

We also found that the video was shared on the X account of Samantha Cristoforetti on October 13, 2022. “One last time, fly along with me! Farewell and, as always, thanks for all the fish! #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight @ESA_EO @Space_Station,” read the caption.

According to the ESA, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s second mission, Minerva, was launched on April 27, 2022. She returned to Earth from the International Space Station after 170 days on October 14, 2022. She had travelled in a new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule called Freedom alongside her Crew-4 crew mates, NASA astronauts Bob ‘Farmer’ Hines, Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins

Hence, we conclude that the viral video does not show visuals from Chandrayaan-3. The claim is false.