SatiricalVideo Shared asthe First Egyptian Astronaut on the Moon
The Claim
A video shows the first Egyptian astronaut on the moon.
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Emerging story
Social media users have circulated a video purporting to show the first Egyptian astronaut on the moon. Other users shared the video sarcastically, claiming it was shot on Egyptian streets.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the circulating video and discovered it to be satirical. The video does not show Egypt's first astronaut and was not shot in Egypt. Baadal Nanjundaswamy, an Indian artist, posted the video on YouTube in September 2019. He dressed up as an astronaut and pretended to walk on the moon.
Nanjundaswamy is a street artist who created this type of content to draw attention to the bad potholes in Bangalore, India.
According to the BBC, authorities in India filled potholes on the road in Bangalore after the artist published the video in 2019.
The First Egyptian Astronaut
Akram Amin is the first Egyptian astronaut, according to Egyptian websites and television interviews. He was selected for NASA's astronaut training program and is currently working on his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Munich's Institute of Flight System Dynamics.
Translated by Wesam Abo Marq