A Brazilian social media star is facing backlash from NASA after she claimed she was selected as a future astronaut for private missions to the Moon and Mars.
NASA jacket-wearing content creator Laysa Peixoto revealed that she was “going to space” as she stood inside a Manhattan skyscraper with the Empire State Building behind her on June 5.
“I was selected to become a career astronaut, performing on manned spaceflights for private space stations, and future manned missions to the Moon and Mars,” she claimed on Instagram. “I’m officially an astronaut of the Class of 2025 and will be part of the inaugural Titans Space flight.”
Peixoto claimed she would be joining the private space company’s maiden voyage in 2029, commanded by NASA veteran astronaut Bill McArthur.
The glamorous tech influencer, who boasts 154,000 followers, says she is Brazil’s first female astronaut.
“It is a great joy to represent Brazil as an astronaut in such a decisive era of space exploration, that will change history of mankind forever,” Peixoto added. “It’s an honor to carry the flag of Brazil with me as the first Brazilian woman to cross that border.”
Only one Brazilian man, Marcos Pontes, has been to space. Pontes made the historic trip to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TMA-8 in March 2006.
He is also the only Brazil-born man to complete NASA’s astronaut training program.
Peixoto was selected to be a career astronaut at Titans Space. Only American citizens can be selected for the same title at NASA.
An April press release states Titans Space’s inaugural flight would include McArthur and three other members – Chris Sembroski, Dr. Mindy Howard and Vaseema Hussain among other talented individuals.
There was no mention of Peixoto, but her team claims she is a part of the mission squad and the details are outdated.
“The Titans Space website is out of date, information confirmed by Titans Space representative, who also confirmed Laysa’s entry into the company’s formation,” Peixoto’s agent told Brazilian newspaper O Tempo.
Titans Space offers candidates the opportunity to join its “Inaugural Astronauts” program for $1 million or an open invitation.
The program advertises a five-hour space journey aboard the company’s Spaceplane and three hours in zero gravity.
Titans Space does not hold a license to conduct manned space flights, the US Sun reported.
NASA has denied Peixoto’s participation in any upcoming missions with the agency.
“While we generally do not comment on personnel, this individual is not a NASA employee, principal investigator, or astronaut candidate,” NASA said, according to the Daily Mail.
The government space agency said Peixoto had taken part in a workshop, L’Space Academy, with NASA that wasn’t an internship or a job.
“It would be inappropriate to claim NASA affiliation as part of this opportunity,” the agency said.
Peixoto returned to Instagram on Thursday to address NASA and Titans Space statements, saying she never claimed to have been selected by the American space agency, having only worn a NASA jacket in the post.
“Maybe many of you didn’t get a chance to read what I said when I announced ‘I’m going to space,’ just the title. The text is available here and in it, I mention WHO selected me, and I mention that it’s a PRIVATE space program.”
“At no time is there a mention of NASA, or that she would be an astronaut for the agency. The post was never edited,” Peixoto’s agent told O Tempo.
An “edited” label is attached to Peixoto’s post, but there is no indication of what had been changed.
The Post has reached out to NASA and Titans Space for comment.
Peixoto’s educational background has also been questioned after her, now-deleted, LinkedIn page claimed she worked at NASA when she was 19, was a fellow at the German non-profit Max Planck Society, enrolled in an engineering course at MIT and had a Master’s Degree from Columbia University, according to CNN Brazil
She studied at Brazil’s Federal University of Minas Gerais before transferring to Manhattan College, now Manhattan University, in the Bronx, O Tempo reported.
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