Artemis II video fuels theories that Apollo moon landings were fake

A video of the Artemis II crew discussing the moon months before this week’s historic launch has fueled online conspiracy theories claiming the Apollo missions were staged.

A short clip of Commander Reid Wiseman is making waves on social media, where he says: ‘This is the first time we’re going to send humans to the moon and, at the same time, have humans in low Earth orbit.’

Conspiracy theorists have seized on the remark as supposed evidence that earlier lunar missions never happened, with one X user writing: ‘That’s the confession right there. They lied about the moon landing.’

The moon landing conspiracy theory claims that NASA faked the Apollo moon landings between 1969 and 1972, alleging they were filmed in a studio to win the Space Race against the Soviet Union. 

The viral 25-second clip, however, was taken from a longer video in which Wiseman acknowledged the Apollo missions, explaining that his comment referred to him and the three other Artemis II astronauts being the first crew of a new lunar era.

The Artemis II mission, which launched Tuesday, will mark the first time humans travel toward the moon since Apollo and the first time astronauts journey beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years.

The crew includes NASA astronauts Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who are set for a 10-day journey around the moon and back. 

The crew is also expected to travel approximately 250,000 miles from Earth by April 6, breaking the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.  

NASA has consistently maintained that the Apollo missions were real, backed by telemetry data, moon rocks and the testimony of thousands of engineers and scientists, though some skeptics continue to dispute the missions.

One X user commented on the video of Wiseman, saying: ‘What timeline am I on for them to openly admit this is the first time sending humans to the moon?’

The comments were made on September 24, 2025, as the crew was just months away from launching to the moon.

About 20 minutes before the controversial comments, Wiseman said: ‘We have been to the moon in Apollo. 

‘So when we go to the training and talk about us looking at the moon and all the things we can bring in, in the back of my mind and in the back of yours, we have been there. 

‘We orbited the moon, we have seen these things before, and what does Artemis II bring that is new to us, then, based as we fly around the moon.’

He continued to explain that Artemis II will also pass by the dark side of the moon, which has never been seen by human eyes.

‘[That is] just because Apollo [has] always landed on the lit side of the moon,’ said Wiseman. 

The clip has resurfaced other doctored videos, including clips of Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, that appeared to show him making similar statements.

In a 2000 appearance on the Conan O’Brien Show, Aldrin stunned the audience when the host recalled watching the moon landing as a boy.

‘No, you didn’t,’ Aldrin snapped. ‘There wasn’t any television, there wasn’t anyone taking a picture. You watched an animation.’

The awkward exchange left O’Brien speechless and has since racked up millions of views online. However, he was referring to animations used by broadcasters at the time in their coverage of the moon landing, intercut with real footage.

Then, in 2015, an eight-year-old girl asked the former astronaut why no one had returned to the moon. Aldrin replied: ‘Because we didn’t go there, and that’s the way it happened.’

The clip, widely shared on social media, cuts off before Aldrin clarifies that funding and shifting government priorities ended lunar missions.

He later explains: ‘We need to know why something stopped in the past if we want it to keep going.

‘It’s a matter of resources and money; new missions need new equipment.’

Doubt over the moon landing took root in the mid-1970s, fueled by public mistrust after Watergate and the Pentagon Papers.

Theories about staged sets, lighting inconsistencies, and suspicious interviews have persisted ever since.