Original article (in Croatian) was published on 26/3/2026; Author: Ivan Nekić

Metadata from the photograph that NASA published on Flickr show that it was taken at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Supporters of the flat Earth theory reject the existence of outer space as it is understood by modern astronomy. They believe that the Earth is a flat disc covered by a so-called dome, that the planets are merely projections, and that the Sun and Moon are either smaller or closer than science states. A more extreme faction of flat Earth theorists goes even further, claiming that outer space does not exist at all and that there is nothing beyond the dome.

What these flat Earth proponents have in common is the claim that space missions, satellites and photographs from space are fabricated. That is precisely the claim made in a Facebook post (archived here), which accompanies a photograph of astronauts with the following caption:

#earth #is #flat
One of the rare photographs showing astronauts taking off their protective helmets to have their picture taken on the surface of the Moon.

The photograph was taken in 1969. Back then, protective helmets were not yet mandatory..

🌒📸👨🏻‍🚀

Training at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

The photograph in the post does not show astronauts removing their helmets on the surface of the Moon, as the post claims. The image was published by Getty Images and also appears on NASA’s Flickr account.

The Getty Images caption reads:

“Apollo 16 astronauts (left to right) Charles M. Duke, John W. Young and Thomas K. Mattingly II take a break during training in preparation for their Moon landing mission, United States, February 6, 1972. Duke is the lunar module pilot, Mattingly the command module pilot, and Young the mission commander for the flight scheduled to launch on April 16.”

Two of the astronauts later did land on the Moon

As the U.S. fact-checking outlet Snopes notes, two of the three astronauts – Charles M. Duke and John W. Young – did land on the Moon on April 21, 1972. During the lunar mission, they were wearing their helmets.

AFP, in its own fact-check, points out that the photograph showing the astronauts without helmets was taken at the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida.

In conclusion, the photograph showing the astronauts without helmets was not taken on the surface of the Moon. It was taken during training for the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission at the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida.