The theory emerged after US astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams took photos in Santa hats and near a Christmas tree earlier in the week. After seeing photos, social media users started wondering whether the astronauts had brought the hats with them when they departed for the ISS in early June or had managed to sew them during their time there, the newspaper said. Many users claimed that the hats are a clear sign of a conspiracy theory and that the astronauts are actually at a movie studio on Earth.
Later, NASA confirmed to the newspaper that all the hats, along with Christmas decorations and gifts for the ISS crew, were all a part of a 3-ton cargo brought to the station by SpaceX in November.
Earlier in December, the space agency scheduled the return of the Starliner crew for March 2025. The astronauts are expected to return to Earth on the Crew-10 spaceship, which will also bring a new team to the ISS.
The Starliner was launched on June 5 and docked to the ISS the next day. Wilmore and Williams were expected to stay in orbit for eight days and return to Earth on the same spacecraft. However, the undocking of the Starliner was delayed several times due to problems with thrusters and discovered helium leaks. This has raised safety concerns, so Wilmore and Williams had to remain on the ISS.