Ample evidence NASA rockets have reached outer space | Fact check
The claim: NASA rockets cannot reach outer space
A June 14 Instagram post (direct link, archived link) features a compilation of videos claiming NASA rockets can't fly beyond Earth's atmosphere.
"They would run out of fuel, it’s all made up," states a man featured in one clip. "So what really happens is they launch them near the ocean in Texas or in Florida. They will never launch a rocket from the middle of the country. It won’t make it to the ocean. It’ll crash on dry land. So, NASA has to launch rockets from Texas and Florida because it’s right by the water."
Another voice says, "You can't get past the firmament."
The post has garnered more than 23,000 likes in two weeks.
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Our rating: False
NASA rockets have successfully entered outer space numerous times since the agency was founded in 1958. Rocket launch sites are strategically selected to take advantage of the Earth's rotation and protect civilians from potential debris.
Numerous rockets have been to space
Contrary to the post's claim, NASA and other entities have sent hundreds of rockets into space.
The U.S. military launched the country’s first satellite, the Explorer 1, into space via the Jupiter-C rocket on Jan. 31, 1958.
Later that year, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing NASA as a government agency.
NASA successfully launched its first spacecraft, the Able 2, later renamed Pioneer 1, on Oct. 11, 1958, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. While the rocket failed to reach the moon, its intended target, the spacecraft entered space and was successful in retrieving data on the Earth’s magnetic field.
Since then, the agency has successfully launched hundreds of rockets, satellites and other spacecraft into outer space, as have space programs from other countries and private companies, according to NASA spokesperson Joshua Finch.
NASA’s fleet of human-manned space shuttles – composed of the Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour crafts – have flown more than 100 missions and taken more than 300 people into outer space.
Evidence that these objects successfully reached outer space includes satellite-based weather forecasting and images, photographs taken by space-based telescopes and confirmation from third parties who track NASA rockets’ launch and orbit, Finch told USA TODAY.
The post also claims that rockets are launched near oceans to conceal their crash landings on Earth.
However, NASA launch sites are strategically placed in order to help the spacecraft break through the Earth’s atmosphere and protect civilian populations, Finch said.
“If a spacecraft is launched from a site near Earth's equator, it can take optimum advantage of the Earth's substantial rotational speed,” he said in an email. “In addition, the launch site must also have a clear pathway downrange, so the rocket will not fly over populated areas in case there is a problem.”
Fact check roundup: Debunking the flawed science behind flat Earth claims
The video makes several allusions to the flat Earth conspiracy theory, and some commenters took the post as proof the Earth lacks curvature.
However, USA TODAY has repeatedly debunked various social media posts claiming to prove the Earth is flat, including claims that jet propulsion can’t work in a vacuum and that space is a hoax. Scientists also take the Earth’s curvature into account when conducting certain experiments and utilizing particular technologies.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Our fact-check sources:
USA TODAY, Dec. 7, 2022, Fact check roundup: Debunking the flawed science behind flat Earth claims
American Physical Society, June 2006, This Month in Physics History
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, accessed July 6, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA, accessed July 6, Artemis I
NASA, accessed July 6, Radiation Belts -- Fun Facts
NASA, accessed July 6, Human Spaceflight
NASA, accessed July 6, Basics of Space Flight
NASA, July 12, 2022, First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope
NASA, Jan. 4, 2021, NASA Astronauts Launch from America in Historic Test Flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon
NASA, Aug. 12, 2019, Able 2 (Pioneer 1)
NASA, Oct. 11, 2018, Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958 - 2016
NASA, Aug. 3, 2017, Explorer 1 Overview
NOAA, accessed July 6, Latest Satellite Imagery
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, accessed July 6, Worldwide Space Agencies
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA rockets have reached outer space | Fact Check
