Stephen Curry was once unconvinced that humans had set foot on the moon — but online controversy, an invitation from NASA and a chat with an actual astronaut seem to have changed his mind.
On the Winging It podcast earlier in December, the basketball player raised eyebrows when he asked, “We ever been to the moon?” Athletes Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore claimed “no” in response.
“They’re going to come get us. I don’t think so either,” Curry said on the podcast. “Sorry, I don’t want to start conspiracies.”
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, a NASA spokesperson said that Curry could “tour the lunar lab at our Johnson Space Center in Houston, perhaps the next time the Warriors are in town to play the Rockets.” Curry responded to the idea by tweeting out a smiley face with sunglasses.
Then astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year in space on board the International Space Station, caught wind of the news. “Steph, so much respect for you, but re the moon landing thing, let’s talk. DM me,” he tweeted.
Curry took him up on his offer — and on Saturday, Curry hosted an Instagram Live in which he interviewed Kelly, according to USA Today.
In a YouTube recording of the Instagram Live, Curry said that “obviously [the moon landing] was real.”
“It was important for me to understand, one, the magnitude of things that I say in my comments and how much weight they carry, no matter if I am joking or not but to really honor that in every situation I put myself in,” Curry said.
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“I do not want to in any way, shape or form to demean the significant accomplishment that you and the people that you work with on a daily basis were able to make a reality,” he continued. “For that I’m obviously genuinely sorry for how that came across and want to use this as an opportunity to promote some positivity, some progress as we talk about NASA’s work that’s ongoing today.”
Kelly said that shedding light on the facts about space accomplishments is necessary as people doubt other scientific truths.
“What happens is when people believe those things, they believe the other things that are more important, like climate change not being real and vaccines and 9/11 being a government conspiracy theory,” Kelly said. “So that’s why I recognize and I think this is so important to have a conversation like this because it … highlights science, like you said, and science is so, so important to our kids, to our country, to our economy.”
In the conversation, Curry and Kelly also chatted about what Curry can expect at the lunar lab, future NASA projects, STEM in schools and the inspiration that kids can find in the history of America’s space program.
“Great chat w @StephenCurry30 on IG live today!” Kelly tweeted after the conversation. “Enjoyed talking about our shared views on space & #STEM education. Now let’s talk about shooting 3s on the moon! With 1/6th gravity, the 3-pt line should be at 142’ & court ~2 football fields long. Thoughts?”
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