Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history this morning after conducting the world’s first commercial spacewalk – the most ambitious goal of the Polaris Dawn mission.

But an outrageous theory is circulating on the Internet that the space company faked the whole thing, similar to the staged conspiracy surrounding the moon landing.

Conspiracy theorists responded to a livestream video of the spacewalk on X (formerly Twitter) by commenting that it did not appear to be real footage from space.

“This looks just as fake as when NASA faked it,” wrote X-user James Doty.

“Until I go to space myself, I’m convinced this shit is fake. Anyone with a fucking brain can tell,” wrote X-user ifxgabriel.

There’s no evidence that SpaceX faked the Polaris Dawn spacewalk. But it’s not the first time people have called a daring space mission a “hoax,” and it probably won’t be the last.

Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman stepped out of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft early this morning and ventured into the vacuum chamber of space.

The Polaris Dawn mission launched early Tuesday morning, carrying four private astronauts into space aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The mission had several ambitious – and dangerous – goals. First, Crew Dragon was to fly farther than any other spacecraft since the wave of lunar landings in the 1960s and 1970s.

To do so, it would have to cross the Van Allen radiation belt – a zone of extremely high space radiation that endangers both the health of the astronauts and the functionality of the spacecraft.

Polaris Dawn was able to achieve both goals without any major surprises.

The biggest test, however, came this morning when mission commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis exited the Crew Dragon in suits that had never been tested in space before.

SpaceX livestreamed the nearly two-hour operation from start to finish on Spaceship X, although Isaacman and Gillis each spent only about 10 minutes outside the spacecraft.

Isaacman was the first to exit the spacecraft at around 6:50 a.m. Eastern Time, using a scaffold-like “Skywalker” frame that extended from the hatch to stabilize himself.

After being exposed to the vacuum of space, Isaacman performed a series of planned movements to test the mobility and comfort of his pressurized spacesuit.

During SpaceX’s livestream of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk, some viewers claimed the footage must be fake. One pointed to the awkward position of Isaacman’s arm as evidence

But as soon as Isaacman appeared from Crew Dragon, numerous viewers began reacting to the livestream, saying the footage must be fake.

“They’re talking about the moon landings being faked, what the hell is wrong with his left arm!” replied X-user Randy Bohling.

Gillis performed the same spacewalk protocol after Isaacman reentered, but she too was not particularly convincing to the conspiracy theorists among the audience.

But these claims are false. There is no evidence that SpaceX faked this spacewalk or any other aspect of the Polaris Dawn mission.

Since the Apollo missions, it has been claimed that space missions and the images and recordings taken during them were faked.

Conspiracy theories surrounding the moon landings have persisted for over 50 years, although there is a wealth of facts proving the untruth of these theories.

Conspiracy theorists argue that certain aspects of the Apollo mission photos – such as the orientation of the shadows, the absence of stars and the waving American flag – are evidence that the moon landings were faked.

But each of these theories has been refuted.

Conspiracy theorists have taken this photo as proof that the moon landings were not real because the shadows in the picture are not parallel, which is actually due to perspective

Some believe that shadows in the moon landing photos are evidence that the image was staged. This claim is based on the fact that these shadows are not parallel to each other.

The idea is that if the sun were the only light source – as would be the case if the photo had been taken on the moon – the shadows would be parallel to each other. But that’s not true.

Due to the influence of perspective, shadows may not appear parallel to each other, even when there is only one light source. If you go outside when the sun is low in the sky, you can see this effect for yourself.

Conspiracy theorists have also cited the absence of stars in photos of the moon landing as a reason why the images cannot be real.

The reason there are no stars visible in the photos of the moon landing is because the moon’s surface is brightly illuminated by the sun, which obscures the stars.

In this photo, the American flag appears to be flying because there is a telescoping pole attached along the top edge of the flag.

The reason there are no stars visible in these photos is because the moon is brightly illuminated by the sun, blocking the camera’s view of distant stars.

The photo of the American flag raised on the lunar surface remains one of the most symbolic images of the moon landing.

However, some believe it must have been staged because the flag is “flying” even though there is no atmosphere or wind on the moon.

However, upon closer inspection, you can see that a telescopic pole has been extended at the top of the flag to allow the flag to fly.

Thus, each of these theories – and others questioning the authenticity of the moon landings – have been refuted.

But as the Polaris Dawn spacewalk showed us, this way of thinking is not going away anytime soon.