“The viral video shows NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returning to Earth in a rocket that successfully lands back on its launch pad.”
What FACTLY found
The video actually shows SpaceX’s Starship booster being caught by mechanical arms during its fifth test flight on 13 October 2024. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned aboard the Dragon spacecraft, which landed safely in the sea near Florida using parachutes on 18 March 2025 at 5.57 pm ET, as confirmed by NASA’s official reports.
Their words, from the summary they publish with the rating.
In short
This claim spread on social media around 19 March 2025. FACTLY (India) looked into it and published its finding on 21 March 2025, 2 days later. Its rating was “FALSE”.
Where the claim appeared
- Instagram posthttps://www.instagram.com/aryan.ved1/reel/DHXP6tWMqTu/
Links recorded by FACTLY. Some posts may have been deleted since.
This check was done by FACTLY, not by DoesItStand. We list it so you can find it. Their full evidence and reasoning are in their article.