NASA issue brutal response to woman who claimed she’s going to the Moon with the space agency
Movie stars, doctors, astronauts - three of the 'dream' jobs many of us imagine when we're growing up.
They'll remain pipe dreams for many, but for some, they get to live out their fantasies.
For one woman, her dream of shooting for the stars might be staying as just that.
It seems that everyone wants to be an astronaut in the aftermath of Katy Perry heading to space as part of Blue Origin's controversial NS-31 flight.
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There might be chaos at NASA right now thanks to the falling out between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and just in case the agency didn't have enough to deal with, it's now had to speak out against Laysa Peixoto's claiming she's heading to the Moon.
As stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will tell you, the astronaut selection isn't an easy one, and while it's true we're sending people back to the Moon for the first time since 1972, the Artemis program hasn't selected the lucky pair who will descend to the lunar surface.
That hasn't stopped the 23-year-old from spectacularly claiming she's going to the Moon.
A scan of Peixoto's social media shows she's been posting about her intergalactic credentials under the handle of astrolaysa since 2019, but things took a bizarre turn when a post claimed she's joined the commercial flight of Titans Space's inaugural 2029 mission.
She says she completed astronaut training in 2022, and sharing a post of herself in full NASA garb against the NYC skyline, added: "It hasn't fully sunk in yet, but I feel immense gratitude for the entire journey I've taken so far and for everyone who has been and is a part of it.
"I was selected to become a career astronaut, working on manned space flights to private space stations, and for future manned missions to the Moon and Mars." She happily shared that she's "officially an astronaut in the class of 2025."
Saying it's a 'great joy' to represent Brazil, Peixoto hyped this "decisive era of space exploration, which will change the history of humanity forever."
Although she outlined plans to carry a Brazilian flag with her to the cosmos, that's quickly been cut short by NASA itself. In a statement shared by the Daily Mail, a NASA spokesperson clarified: "While we generally do not comment on personnel, this individual is not a NASA employee, principal investigator, or astronaut candidate."
They say that Peixoto was involved in 'a workshop for students', adding that this was "not an internship or job at NASA."
The agency concluded: "It would be inappropriate to claim NASA affiliation as part of this opportunity."
Although Titans Space doesn't have a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow human spaceflight, it apparently confirmed Peixoto's involvement with Brazilian news site Metropoles. The Daily Mail notes she's not on the shortlist of astronauts for the flight.
Peixoto has since tried to clear up the baffling situation, with her publicist sharing a statement that reads: "In the announcement made on Instagram, the only statement given so far (June 11), having not checked any interview so far, Laysa explains that she was selected as an astronaut by the private company Titans Space.
"At no time is there a mention of NASA, or that it would be an astronaut from the agency. The post was never edited."
Even though it's said the post was edited, her publicist finalized: "It's explicit and clear: Laysa was selected to become a career astronaut by Titans Space, which will have as mission commander, Bill McArthur, a veteran NASA astronaut - the only mention made about NASA in the post."