Allegation:
A NASA astronaut once surprised his teammates by wearing a gorilla costume on the International Space Station.
Evaluation:
Context:
Former astronaut twin brothers Mark and Scott Kelly staged a gorilla costume show on the International Space Station that crew members knew about in advance. However, contrary to some social posts, the person who wore it in space was Scott, not Mark.
Allegations since 2016 radiate (Archive) Open social media (Archive) that former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly slyly said.smuggled out a full gorilla costume “On the International Space Station” (Archive). A Reddit post from 2023 says he later wore the outfit without warning anyone:
Mark Kelly has a twin brother named Scott Kelly, who is also an astronaut, and numerous posts on social media have claimed the same thing about him:
In 2016, former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly smuggled a full gorilla suit into the International Space Station but didn’t tell anyone about it. Until one day he decides to sneak up on his crewmate. pic.twitter.com/uop15g6bHW
— WTF Facts (@mrwtffacts) February 17, 2023
While this may have actually happened, posts like the one above have confused some of the details surrounding the #SpaceGorilla stunt. Mark and Scott Kelly planned the gorilla suit incident together, and everyone on the International Space Station crew was told about it in advance. Mark Kelly, who was not on the ISS at the time, arranged for the costume to be sent from Earth to Scott Kelly, who was wearing the costume in the video.
Both Kelly brothers posted about it on X. We searched Mark Kelly’s X (formerly Twitter) timeline and found that he originally shared this post. video 22 February 2016 (archive):
Scott Kelly sent (Archive) did this the next day and received over 23,000 likes:
Our newsroom then delved into NASA archives and found this: summary The #SpaceApe fiasco released by the space agency on February 4, 2020. This confirmed other news accounts that said Mark Kelly arranged for clothes to be sent from Earth to his twin brother on the ISS.:
As a surprise for astronaut Scott J. Kelly’s birthday on February 21, 2016, during his one-year mission aboard the ISS, his twin brother, astronaut Mark E. Kelly, arranged for a life-size gorilla costume to be delivered to the station. In addition to some mild-mannered antics while wearing the gorilla suit that he shared on social media, such as chasing fellow Expedition 46 crew member Timothy N. Peake through the Destiny module. [Scott] Kelly also recorded some instructional videos wearing non-standard clothing.
As Scott Kelly said People By January 2022 (archive) the entire show was planned, and fellow astronaut Tom Peak, also featured in the video, was not surprised:
This was all staged. So it’s floating around, floating in the air, we wanted it to look funny.
It was the end of my year in space… so you need some humor.
Scott Kelly of out-of-this-world primate fame even published an educational article. video “What happens when you cry in space,” he explains to X on October 16, 2017 (archive) while wearing a #SpaceGorilla costume.
became Mark Kelly US senator from ArizonaHe retired from NASA and the US Navy in June 2011 after 10 years of spaceflight. NASA profile. Scott Kelly was first selected by NASA in 1996 and retired from the space agency after 20 years of service.
Resources:
“Astronaut Scott Kelly Reveals the Real Story Behind the Video of Him Showing Up in a Gorilla Suit on the Space Station.” peoplemag, https://people.com/human-interest/astronaut-scott-kelly-reveals-real-story-behind-viral-video-gorilla-suit-aboard-space-station/. Access date: 14 March 2024.
“Home | U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.” Senator Mark Kelly, https://www.kelly.senate.gov/. Access date: 14 March 2024.
“https://Twitter.Com/CaptMarkKelly/Status/701918950678892544.” X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/CaptMarkKelly/status/701918950678892544. Access date: 14 March 2024.
“https://Twitter.Com/StationCDRKelly/Status/702239878323372032.” X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/702239878323372032. Access date: 14 March 2024.
“Https://Twitter.Com/Stationcdrkelly/Status/919971753320964097?Lang=tr.” X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly/status/919971753320964097?lang=tr. Access date: 14 March 2024.
“https://Twitter.Com/Todd_Spence/Status/1480256216618049537.” X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/Todd_Spence/status/1480256216618049537. Access date: 14 March 2024.
20. Space Station: Celebrating Birthdays on the ISS – NASA. February 4, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-celebrating-birthdays-on-iss/.