Claim: Several social media accounts claim NASA astronaut Christina Koch took Ghana’s flag to the Moon on the Artemis II mission.
Verdict: False! The image of the Ghanaian flag in space, currently being linked to the 2026 Artemis II lunar mission, is actually from December 2019, taken aboard the International Space Station.
Body
NASA’s Artemis II mission returned to Earth on April 10, 2026, after a 10-day journey orbiting the Moon.
The crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Christina Koch, drew global attention. In Ghana, interest was particularly high due to Koch’s ties to the country, having studied as an exchange student at the University of Ghana in 1999.
Amid the excitement, several viral posts on social media, news websites, and YouTube claimed that Koch carried and displayed Ghana’s national flag during the mission.
These claims were supported with widely shared images seen here and here showing her holding the flag in space.
The narrative gained further traction after Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister announced plans to honor Koch for her achievements in space exploration.
Following these developments, CitiVerify set out to determine whether Christina Koch indeed took Ghana’s flag on the Artemis II mission around the Moon.
Verification
To verify the claim, CitiVerify reviewed official NASA records on items carried aboard the Artemis II mission. Findings show that although the crew travelled with a “variety of flags, patches, and pins,” Ghana’s flag was not included in the list of items taken on the mission.
Additionally, an InVID verification process, using a Google reverse image search revealed that the video predates the 2026 mission by several years.
It was originally shared by Christina Koch on December 12, 2019, while she was aboard the International Space Station, during her “longest single spaceflight by a woman” record in 2019. In that post, she reflected on her time in Ghana as an exchange student, noting how the experience shaped her perspective.
CitiVerify also reviewed the verified social media accounts of Christina Koch on Instagram and X around the time of the Artemis II launch. There was no post or evidence confirming that she carried Ghana’s flag on the mission.
However, CitiVerify confirmed that the images are not AI-generated, contrary to claims by some social media users. The images attached above were shared by Christina Koch in 2019.
Conclusion
The claim that Christina Koch took Ghana’s flag to the Moon during the Artemis II mission is false. The viral image being circulated was taken in 2019 while she was aboard the International Space Station, and not during the Artemis II mission.
Although her connection to Ghana is genuine and widely acknowledged, there is no evidence to support claims that she carried or displayed the Ghanaian flag on the lunar mission.
