Glamorous Instagram ‘astronaut', 22, exposed as FAKE after duping 150k followers with pics of her ‘training at Nasa'

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

A GLAMOROUS Instagram star who soared to fame by claiming she was an astronaut has been exposed as a fraud by NASA.
Laysa Peixoto, known to her 156,000 followers as @AstroLaysa, announced earlier this month she'd been picked for a career in space exploration.
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Laysa Peixoto claimed she was a NASA astronaut, but the space agency says she was never part of its program
Credit: Newsflash
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The 22-year-old told her 156k followers she was chosen for missions to the Moon and Mars
Credit: instagram
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Peixoto said she was joining the 'Astronaut Class of 2025'
Credit: instagram
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The Brazilian was only part of a NASA student workshop — not a career track or flight crew
Credit: Newsflash
The 22-year-old Brazilian claimed she earned a spot in the coveted 'Astronaut Class of 2025' with plans to fly to the Moon and Mars.
But just days after her triumphant Instagram reveal - complete with snaps of her in a NASA-branded jumpsuit and helmet - NASA itself came crashing into her orbit with a reality check.
The agency said bluntly in a statement: "This individual is not a NASA employee, principal investigator, or astronaut candidate.
"It would be inappropriate to claim NASA affiliation as part of this opportunity."
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Peixoto, from the state of Minas Gerais, has told followers she was chosen by private space outfit Titans Space for a 2029 mission led by Veteran NASA astronaut Bill McArthur.
She gushed in a post on June 5: "It hasn't fully sunk in yet, but I feel immense gratitude for the entire journey I've taken so far and for everyone who has been and is a part of it."
She added: "It is a great joy to represent Brazil as an astronaut in such a decisive era of space exploration… It is an honour to carry the Brazilian flag with me as the first Brazilian woman to cross this frontier."
But NASA's no-nonsense response made it clear she had never trained with them and had only participated in a student workshop called L'SPACE - which it described as neither a job nor an internship.
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Titans Space added to the confusion, confirming she had been accepted into a "candidate programme" - a far cry from a guaranteed seat on a rocket.
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The company reportedly doesn't even hold a license to conduct manned spaceflights.
The programme Peixoto apparently joined is a $1million "Inaugural Astronauts" package promising a five-hour space trip and just three hours of zero gravity.
Questions around Peixoto's education also started brewing.
She had claimed to be earning a master's in Quantum Physics and Computing at Columbia University in New York City.
But the Ivy League school said there's no record of her.
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In a post, she said: 'It is an honour to carry the Brazilian flag with me...'
Credit: Newsflash
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She was linked to a private $1M 'space experience' by Titans Space
Credit: instagram
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Peixoto also claimed she was studying Quantum Physics at Columbia University
Credit: Newsflash
Meanwhile, her former university in Brazil confirmed she was dismissed in 2023 for failing to re-enrol.
In the aftermath of her post, Peixoto's team said: "At no time is there a mention of NASA, or that it would be an astronaut from the agency.
"The post was never edited."
But eagled-eyed internet sleuths say otherwise - noting the post was edited and included photos heavy with NASA iconography.
The bizarre saga saw the "fake astronaut" at the center of social media jokes.
One user quipped on X: 'All I have to say is that anyone who saw a girl wearing a space camp jumpsuit claiming to be a lead astronaut researcher deserves to be fooled, when she's clearly just an ambitious and wealthy person.'
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After backlash, Peixoto insisted she never claimed to be a NASA astronaut — despite posts showing NASA gear and logos
Credit: Newsflash