Conspiracy theories about the International Space Station

The ISS does not exist

The ISS is visible from Earth through a telescope. The website below explains how to find the station.

Simple guide to viewing the International Space Station – Society for Popular Astronomy

Amateur astronomers have been enjoying watching the International Space Station drifting across the sky for years now. For many, it’s become as enjoyable a part of the hobby as watching a meteor shower or just standing outside under the stars on a clear night. If you’re one of the many people who want to start

(copy of article : https://web.archive.org/web/20230601130517/https://www.popastro.com/main_spa1/simple-guide-to-viewing-the-international-space-station/)

The ISS exists but is not inhabite

Radio communications

It is perfectly possible to listen to the astronauts’ radio communications. The change in radio frequency observed during these radio exchanges is proof that the astronauts are at a high altitude above the planet.

In addition, there is a phenomenon known as the Doppler effect, which changes the frequency of a radio signal coming from a moving object. From this, we can prove that the radio transmitter is moving at very high speed and must therefore be in orbit.

Here’s a video explaining how to listen to the ISS astronauts using a walkie-talkie (obviously, to analyse the signal you need much more powerful and expensive radio equipment):

Here is a video showing radio communication with Earth as seen from the ISS:

See the astronauts

With a lot of luck and patience, it’s possible to spot astronauts on spacewalks.

Here are some of the finest examples :

The ISS regularly transmits live video to Earth

Live videos are regularly broadcast from the ISS for various occasions:

• Spacewalk
• Interview
• Question and answer session with the press or schools

During these live transmissions, the astronauts interact with the various people present on Earth, so it cannot be recorded in advance.

Some of the more far-fetched conspiracy theorists who are short of arguments suggest that they could use live special effects technology to simulate objects in zero gravity, as is currently done with augmented reality. This hypothesis is strictly impossible for several reasons:

• The latest and most advanced augmented reality technology does not allow us to achieve a result that is even remotely close to what can be seen on videos taken on the International Space Station.
• This technology cannot simulate astronauts in zero gravity. If they are weightless live, then it’s real. Nor is it possible for them to be in a Zero G aircraft. In fact, a Zero G aircraft simulates a state of microgravity (not weightlessness) by using parabolic trajectories that allow a state of microgravity for only around twenty seconds.

Reduced-gravity aircraft – Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These same conspiracy theorists also say that when the astronauts handle objects, they are always looking at something other than the object, they imply that they are actually looking at the video feedback with the virtual objects. Firstly, it’s not true that they always do this, most of the time they’re looking at the object or objects they’re handling.
They sometimes look at the video feedback to check that what they’re showing is actually in the frame, quite simply.

Here are two videos comparing the results of manipulating virtual objects using augmented reality and manipulating objects in the ISS. We can see that not all the speculations of the conspiracy theorists mentioned above can be correct.

Here are the extracts concerning the ISS:

And here are the extracts concerning augmented reality:

The ISS was assembled in orbit

The International Space Station was not put into orbit all at once in its current state. It took 10 years to assemble all the parts and modules that currently make up the ISS. This in-orbit assembly was only possible with astronauts also in orbit, aided by robotic arms. So why wouldn’t the ISS be manned? Below you will find a playlist of 43 videos of the construction of the ISS in orbit, as well as a popularisation video on the subject.

Radiation makes it impossible to live in space

Impact on health

Radiation in space is perfectly known and controlled. Moreover, it is relatively low. And even supposing it were lethal – which it isn’t – we’re not in a science fiction film, and it would take several years to develop a radiation-related illness and die from it…

Several studies on the subject are available via the link below:

https://universe-photo-archive.eu/files/debunk/radiations

Van Allen belts

[TO BE DRAWN UP]

The video with the hammer and the card

See the video on Universe Photo Archive server

This video is sometimes used to prove that the ISS is a sham… Apart from the fact that it’s funny that NASA should leave this video online if it proves anything, it’s actually a “magic trick” performed by astronaut Richard Garriott…

Here’s a page listing all the little “gravity tricks” he was able to perform:

Gravity Trick — OurSpace

Things aren’t always what they seem! Richard is a keen magician and took a little time to play with magic in space. He performed the world’s first full magic show onboard the ISS and here is a clip of one fun trick he performed, making clever use of his weightlessness to surprise us. Of course it’s not really a bubble of gravity – it’s just cunning science masquerading as magic. How is it done? Well if we told you that would break the magicians’ code, which applies even in space.

Here’s a Tweet from this astronaut on the subject:

Thomas Pesquet confesses all

This speech by Thomas Pesquet, in which he unintentionally confesses that we’ve never been to space, has been hijacked. ARTE’s detox program explains in this video:

The ISS is actually in a swimming pool

The images used by conspiracy theorists of the ISS in a swimming pool come from the neutral buoyancy laboratory “Sonny Carter Training Facility” where astronauts train. This training facility is by no means secret, and you’ll find a photo of it on Wikipedia :

Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory – Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is a video of Thomas Pesquet training at the center:

The images used to “”prove”” that the EVAs are filmed in this pool with a green background are very crude photo montages and are easy to demonstrate, for example:

Air bubbles in space as filmed in a swimming pool

People who claim that EVAs are filmed in swimming pools use videos that are supposed to show air bubbles. In reality, they are particles of dust or ice. Indeed, Joshua Colwell, planetary scientist and head of the physics department at the University of Central Florida, explains: “Gas bubbles moving through a fluid do not follow a perfectly straight trajectory as they rise to the surface. The elements I observed in the video do not move in parallel lines, but propagate outwards like a fan from a common point of origin, and they move at a constant speed and in perfectly straight lines.”

Source : AP News
(Copie de l’article ici)

What’s more, if these videos were shot in swimming pools, air bubbles would be visible everywhere, not only around the astronauts, but also “stuck” to their suits.

Here’s Thomas Pesquet training underwater. Compare with the second video, which is a spacewalk filmed in subjective view.

The globe that “falls” due to gravity

In a video extract from an interview with several astronauts on the ISS, a globe/balloon can be seen “falling”. This is simply the action of the astronaut’s wrist on the ball, causing it to move downwards. Below is the original video.
_at 18min30 the passage used by conspiracy theorists
_at 16min10 the moment when the balloon appears and we see it in weightlessness for a very long time.

Original videos found with the help of the following article : https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-nasa-ball-idUSL2N2NT1T8
(Copy available here)

An astronaut in front of a green background

Some conspiracy videos use an excerpt from a video posted by a conspiracy channel as well, claiming that this is astronaut Karen Nyberg. You can clearly hear at around 0:40 that this person’s name is “Paige”.

Original videos and explanation found thanks to this article :

(Copy available here)

Astronauts restrained by cables

Many videos are used by conspiracy theorists to advance this argument. I’m not going to go through them one by one, but at least the two that come up the most. The video below is the one I’ve seen most often on this subject – well, a montage, since the original videos are never used by conspiracy theorists. The passage used is at 13:57. We’re supposed to see the astronaut on the right holding the astronaut on the left by a cable.

This argument is easily refuted by two points:
_The astronaut simply puts his little finger in his colleague’s pocket to stabilize him. This is clearly visible in this original video, which is in good quality.
_When the astronaut does his backflip, he is holding a wired microphone at all times. If he were held by a cable, the microphone wire would wrap around the cable.

Part 1 of this interview (see below) is also interesting, as we see his colleague standing over the astronaut’s head, so he can’t be restrained by cables. (at 11 minutes and 20 seconds)

The second video used is the one below at around 16 minutes and 15 seconds. The videos used by the conspiracy theorists are, as always, not only incomplete (only a few seconds) but also cropped. Here again is the original video. Here it is stated that when Thomas Pesquet “lands” on his legs, we see a cable very briefly in the background. This is simply a reflection in the mirror just behind him.

To complete the picture: in the video below, from 3 hours, 2 minutes and 15 seconds onwards, we can see many astronauts coming and going very freely, passing over each other… In short, it’s impossible for there to be any cables, of course.

And finally, here’s a guided tour of the ISS by Thomas Pesquet. He moves freely throughout the station in any direction, so there are no cables.