Christmas Greetings from Space Station... "Is This a Studio?" Conspiracy Theories Stir

Astronauts Grounded in June
"Did You Bring Santa Hats in June?" Criticism
"NASA Confirmed Supplies Delivered in November"

Conspiracy theorists are raising suspicions about a video taken by International Space Station (ISS) crew members celebrating Christmas.

A greeting video filmed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on the 25th to celebrate Christmas. Screenshot from the official International Space Station (ISS) X (formerly Twitter) account.

On the 24th (local time), foreign media including the New York Post reported that the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the ISS released a video of four astronauts currently aboard the ISS?Sunita Williams, Don Pettit, Nick Hague, and Butch Wilmore?sending greetings to their families for Christmas. In the video, filmed in advance on the 23rd, the astronauts wore red Santa Claus hats and delivered Christmas and New Year greetings next to a small artificial tree and a balloon snowman. In particular, Williams said, "The time spent here is really great," adding, "because we can spend it with our 'family' here on the ISS."

After the video was released, conspiracy theorists who do not believe in the existence of the ISS began raising doubts. Among the four astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore visited the ISS on June 5 for about eight days but have been stuck there for over 10 months. The theorists questioned how those who originally planned only an eight-day mission in June could have prepared Christmas items. One conspiracy theorist wrote on X, "This is all a huge show," while others suspected, "They are actually in a film studio, not space," "Did they bring Santa hats on the June mission? Or did they knit the hats on the ISS?" and "Are these really the same people who went to space for an eight-day mission in June?"

However, their absurd claims were easily debunked. NASA delivered various supplies to the ISS at the end of November via a 3-ton SpaceX spacecraft. Among the supplies were Santa hats, various Christmas decorations, special gifts, and Christmas meals (turkey, cookies, etc.). The ISS receives necessary supplies several times throughout the year.

Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore, who visited the ISS for the first crewed test flight aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, had their return schedule delayed after several defects were found following Starliner's docking with the ISS, including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions. Due to safety concerns, NASA decided to use SpaceX's Dragon instead of Starliner for their return. Later, the plan was changed again to return them on a new Dragon spacecraft rather than the existing Dragon capsule, extending their stay until March.