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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Science & space fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about science & space. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,577 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYScience & space

Image depicting imprints on the Moon’s surface created by the wheels of the Pragyan rover, featuring the State Emblem of India and ISRO’s logo

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The review examines a viral image said to show the Pragyan rover’s wheel marks on the Moon, with the State Emblem of India and ISRO’s logo appearing between the two tyre tracks. It distinguishes the genuine design on the rover’s wheels from what the image depicts: the symbols are embossed on the rear wheels, but the review says they would leave impressions along the tyre tracks, not in the space between them. To assess the image, the review compared the claimed placement of the symbols with ISRO’s description of the rover and a representative animation released by ISRO. It also reports that, at the time of its investigation, ISRO had not released real images of Pragyan’s wheel impressions on the lunar surface. Separately, the reviewer searched for the person credited with the image, Krishanshu Garg, and found an Instagram account under that name. The account holder described the image in Instagram stories as artwork; the review also reports that Garg had earlier told The Quint that he made it using Photoshop. The review therefore concludes that the image is an artwork rather than a photograph of actual rover tracks. Its qualification is that the underlying detail about the rover is real: its rear wheels bear the two symbols, which would be impressed into the terrain along the tracks. That genuine feature does not establish that the viral image shows such impressions, particularly in the location between the tracks.