--- title: "Conspiracy Theorists Are Going to Have a Field Day as NASA Gears Up to Launch Historic Moon Mission on April Fools’ Day" description: "NASA is counting down for its Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission. It's a historic moment that also happens to take place on April Fools' Day." date: "2026-04-01" modified: "2026-04-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/space/nasa-launch-moon-mission-april-fools-day" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Off-World" - "Space" --- # Conspiracy Theorists Are Going to Have a Field Day as NASA Gears Up to Launch Historic Moon Mission on April Fools’ Day ![NASA is counting down for its Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission. It's a historic moment that also happens to take place on April Fools' Day.]() *NASA* Conspiracy theories have run rampant over the decades following NASA's historic Apollo missions to the surface of the Moon. Based on twisted or misunderstood evidence, they argue that NASA somehow faked its groundbreaking lunar landings, tampering with evidence or faking TV broadcast footage in a studio to mislead the public. Despite being debunked time and time again, a startling proportion of the public still hold onto these claims. According to a [2022 survey](), an outrageous ten percent of respondents said they agreed with conspiracy claims that NASA faked the Moon landings. Today, 53 and a half years after Apollo 17, the last crewed Moon landing, NASA is counting down for its Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission tonight. It's a historic moment that also happens to take place on a highly unusual date: April Fools' Day, which could give some of the most foolhardy individuals out there ammunition to hold on to their skewed views. *Futurism* reached out to NASA for comment on the unfortunate timing, but hasn't heard back. (In all fairness, its publicity department may have its hands full ahead of today's launch.) Fortunately, there's an astronomical amount of evidence to suggest the space agency's imminent launch is not, in fact, an ill-conceived and ludicrously expensive April Fools' gag. The Space Launch System rocket is already [being fueled up]() at Launch Complex 39B, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's the same complex that was used to launch Apollo-era Saturn V rockets between 1969 and 1972. The crew of four astronauts has suited up for launch, and [could be seen waving to the cameras]() Wednesday afternoon ahead of their journey to the launch pad. The plan is to spend the next ten days traveling to and then around the Moon, which will involve a slow perigee raise maneuver to gain enough altitude for "trans-lunar injection" by their Orion spacecraft's main engine, a boost that they will need to cover the hundreds of thousands of miles of deep space between the two worlds. If everything goes according to plan, the crew is poised to break the record for the farthest anybody has ever traveled from Earth, an exciting milestone ahead of even more ambitious missions down to the lunar surface in the coming **y**ears. If anything, the wealth of footage, [including iPhone videos]() this time around, we will be enjoying throughout this week's and subsequent journeys — camera and broadcasting tech have come a very long way since the Apollo era — it's likely conspiracy theorists will struggle to hold on to their belief that NASA is pulling the wool over their eyes. **More on Artemis:** [*Experts Warn That There's Something Wrong With the Moon Rocket NASA Is About to Launch With Astronauts Aboard*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()