BENGALURU — After claiming to have landed near the south pole of the Moon, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) released what they claim is the first photo taken by their lunar lander. Unfortunately, several critics have called the authenticity of the photo into question as it features Bollywood dancers, an astronaut on a tiger, and a man riding a rocket narrowly escaping an explosion as he backflips onto the lunar surface.
"Hmmmm, If I didn't know better, I'd say this photo was elaborately staged by a Bollywood film crew," said NASA engineer Ron McNeebles. "I'm not a zoologist, but I don't think tigers can breathe in space, can they? It's possible this landing was faked."
Indian authorities dismissed the accusations. "Any suggestion that we didn't really land on the moon is preposterous," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It took over 200 strongmen to hurl Rama Gupta, India's greatest astronaut, into space on his majestic tiger, where he held his breath the entire time. India's second-greatest astronaut Kumal Sharma then performed great aerial feats on his 100% real space rocket. This is a great day for India!"
Engineers with ISRO confirmed the astronauts will study the chemical and mineral composition of the lunar soil, after which they will break into a spontaneous song and dance number and then return to Earth. "We are happy to release these inspiring photos of our space crew to the world," said a spokesman for the organization.
At publishing time, America's Space Force had one-upped India with authentic photos of their latest diversity training seminar.
Citing concerns about stiff competition from Amazon and an impossible-to-please Gen Z, Santa has announced he's hanging up the hat for good.
