Did NASA select Indian Ayurvedic doctor to explore role of traditional medicine in space travel? PIB debunks viral claim

The fact check wing of Indian government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Monday debunked a false claim where it was reported that the United States space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected an Indian Ayurvedic doctor to explore role of traditional medicine in space travel.

What is the claim?

In a post shared on X, PIB Fact Check said that Dr Ezhilarasan, who has spent a decade advancing the clinical application of Ayurveda will work alongside biomedical scientists and space physiologists to investigate how Ayurvedic herbs and formulations might help counteract the physiological stressors of space travel.

It added that the initiative is a joint effort between NASA, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Ministry of AYUSH. The claim also mentioned, "This is the first time an Ayurvedic expert has been directly involved in a US space agency health research program."

What is the truth?

The Fact Check wing of PIB clarified that screenshot of a newspaper clipping circulating on social media are fake.

“PIB also said, “The image being circulated is morphed” and “The New York Times has NEVER carried any such news story.”

Previous incidents:

Earlier, the fact check wing of Indian government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) debunked a false claim made by Pakistan saying that the Indian media had admitted to the destruction of the country's airbases.

The Fact Check wing of PIB clarified that Pakistan was attempting to mislead people by editing the video.

It said that the actual video shows that the attacks were all intercepted, with the footage of a Pakistani missile that was downed by India.

Similarly, on Friday morning, the fact-checking wing of the Indian government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) pulled the plug on the doctored document, in which Pakistan quoted an AI-generated report from The Daily Telegraph newspaper claiming PAF was “feared, respected, and remarkably efficient."

“This claim is false. The image being circulated is AI-generated. The Daily Telegraph has NEVER carried any such article,” the Press Information Bureau's Fact Check division posted on X, along with a screenshot of the “false” report.