SpaceX launched two NASA astronauts into orbit on Saturday, May 31, carrying out the first crewed flight aboard a private-built spacecraft. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley flew towards the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8.22pm BST. But as the world celebrated the historic partnership between NASA and SpaceX, many Flat Earth believers took to social media to challenge the launch footage streamed online.
Arguments broke out on Twitter as people on both sides of the debate fought their case.
One person said: “Just imagine if it’s proven now that the Earth is flat people will know by then that this Earth didn’t miraculously came to being with the Big Bang and us living on it by chance, if it’s flat there is a creator there is a God and that’s what they don’t want people to believe.”
The same person also explained the vanishing horizon, saying: “Well what you saw isn’t the curvature it’s just the end of the horizon in our perspectives makes it appear so cause of the vanishing point of our limited view.”
Another Twitter user said: “Dragon is Satan. Dome over flat Earth.”
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A third person said: “Nobody seems to pay attention to the declassified documents! Hidden in PLANE sight!
“People are still indoctrinated by their Rockefeller Foundation created curriculums.
“Why do they teach children about space? So you don’t’ question it as an adult! Common sense. The Earth is flat.”
Many conspiracy theorists believe the Earth is flat, gravity can be explained by the Earth flying upwards and the flat planet is enclosed under a dome.
But despite the bizarre tweets aimed at NASA and SpaceX, many people believed the footage caught by SpaceX could finally settle the score.
“Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations and pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
“For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, enabling the expansion of the inhabitants of the space station, increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, and returning more science back to Earth.”
The NASA astronauts will remain on the space station for up to four months before returning to Earth.
Since the end of the Space Shuttle era in 2011, NASA has relied on Russian Soyuz rockets to send crews into orbit.
