NASA recently jumped online to correct misinformation about the space station

Indeed, the aging International Space Station has known, ongoing leaks. But it’s not nearly as prone to crashing as quickly.

NASA responded to X’s post, which was previously on Twitter, saying “ISS will crash soon with de-orbit,” and included a screenshot from the 4chan post and a blurry graph showing altitude data. The space agency likely responded in an effort to move forward with a questionable post that took a positive turn (with nearly 9,000 likes and hundreds of shares as of the afternoon of Dec. 18).

“The International @Space_Station continues to orbit Earth as planned, and the crew aboard is safe. You can track the current trajectory of the space station anytime at NASA’s X-linked.

The post is an example of the flood of misinformation available on X. Indeed, X has a feature, Community Notes, a platform that says it allows users to “collaboratively add context to potentially misleading posts” – and sometimes it can deal with serious misinformation. But not always, and not immediately. Misinformation can thrive on the platform.

In this case, NASA’s busy communications team saw fit to respond. Such a reaction will probably not stop conspiracists – who would like “information” that makes them feel different or superior – from sharing and amplifying the posts of the space station, but maybe it will inform some users and stop this particular wave of misinformation. .

The Tweet may have been deleted

NASA expects the space station to continue orbiting Earth and conducting science until 2031. The US Deorbit vehicle developed by SpaceX will attach to the ISS and bring it down to Earth in a controlled, safe manner, specifically avoiding populated regions. By the 2030s, the space agency expects commercial space stations to commit to providing a US presence in low-Earth orbit.

You can easily see the space station, the largest structure ever built in space, when it passes over your home. Check spotthestation.nasa.gov for a top spotting near you. It reflects a lot of sunlight, making it the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon.

You’ll see, it’s still there.