19-Year-Old Woman Mastered 'All of NASA's Rigorous Tests' Required for Flight to Mars?

The very nature of NASA's exploration of the unknown instills a fascination like few other agencies of the federal government. 

Established in 1958, NASA was formed in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and with it, the "Space Race." While the fervor of the race to space exploration superiority in the 1960s has largely subsided in the modern era, images and data sent back to Earth from exploratory missions still manage to capture the imagination of the public. 

While NASA's research captures the public's fascination, it is also often subject to misleading rumors. In March 2025, two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for more than nine months due to equipment malfunction safely returned to Earth. The astronauts were unwittingly used as political talking points when U.S. President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk suggested former President Joe Biden left them stranded there deliberately. 

Here are 15 recent claims pertaining to NASA and its work, including Trump's allegations of Biden stranding astronauts in space, that we've investigated.