Instagram posts
Instagram posts
stated on May 11, 2023 in an Instagram post:

Video is evidence the moon landing was faked because someone would have had to stay behind to film

False

A remotely controlled camera captured Apollo 17 leaving the moon, not some doomed astronaut

If your time is short

  • A remotely controlled camera captured Apollo 17 leaving the moon in 1972. This video is not evidence the moon landing was a hoax. 
 
See the sources for this fact-check

Are we meant to believe that some lonely soul was committed enough to NASA’s Apollo program to stay behind on the moon just so the space agency could have footage of a lunar takeoff? 

A recent Instagram post suggests as much. 

“NASA moon landing WHO filmed this,” reads text above a video clip of Apollo 17 leaving the moon.

“If you believe NASA really went to the moon, then who stayed behind and filmed them leaving?” a man says in the video. “Who filmed this? It must’ve been someone pretty dedicated because they’re still on the moon.” 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The footage is authentic, but no one stayed behind to film it. It shows the last time humans were on the moon, Dec. 14, 1972. On that date, the lunar module Challenger was filmed using a small, portable television camera attached to a pan-and-tilt unit that could be controlled from Earth via a high-gain antenna on the lunar rover, the National AIr and Space Museum explains on its website.

Claims that this video is evidence that the moon landing was fake are False.

 
Our Sources

Facebook post, May 11, 2023

Gizmodo, How NASA Captured This Iconic Footage Of Apollo 17 Leaving The Moon, Dec. 16, 2014

National Air and Space Museum, Leaving the Moon, Watching at Home, Dec. 30, 2011

A remotely controlled camera captured Apollo 17 leaving the moon, not some doomed astronaut

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on January 7, 2026 a press briefing

stated on January 14, 2026 a statement

Social Media
stated on February 14, 2026 social media posts



stated on January 20, 2026 an op-ed


Donald Trump
stated on February 3, 2026 remarks in the Oval Office


Social Media
stated on February 8, 2026 social media posts





Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on stated on November 17, 2025 in remarks at George Washington University:

Donald Trump
stated on February 2, 2026 an interview with Dan Bongino