Fact Check: Did NASA Choose an Ayurvedic Doctor from India for Space Medicine Research?

An Instagram post claims that NASA Choose an Ayurvedic Doctor from India for Space Medicine Research. The claim is FALSE.

Claim

In an Instagram post it is claimed that NASA Choose an Ayurvedic Doctor from India for Space Medicine Research. In the post by ajitkaran.jsr is captioned as "Space travel and Ayurved."

The post can be accessed here. 

Fact Check

The claim is FALSE. There is no official confirmation from NASA supporting this claim, and it appears to stem from misleading or misrepresented social media posts. Additionally, PIB Fact Check has labeled the viral newspaper clipping as fake, confirming that the image is morphed and that The New York Times has never published such a story.

Did NASA Choose an Ayurvedic Doctor from India for Space Medicine Research?

A newspaper clipping circulating widely on Instagram recently claimed that NASA had chosen an Ayurvedic doctor from India for space medicine research is FALSE.

The viral clipping claims that Dr. Ezhilarasan, an Indian Ayurvedic doctor with over ten years of clinical experience in Ayurveda, has been selected by NASA for space medicine research. According to the post, he would collaborate with biomedical scientists and space physiologists to investigate how Ayurvedic herbs and formulations could help mitigate the physical stresses associated with space travel.

The post further claimed that the initiative is a collaborative effort between NASA, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the Ministry of AYUSH. It also stated, "This is the first time an Ayurvedic expert has been directly involved in a US space agency health research program." 

There is no evidence, credible source, or official confirmation from NASA to support the claim made in the post. In fact, there is no media outlet by the name The YonK Times.

Further investigation by the Medical Dialogues Fact Check Team uncovered a post by Press Information Bureau’s (PIB)  Fact Check, which directly addressed the circulating claim.

The PIB's Fact Check unit the official fact-checking arm of the Indian government debunked the viral claim that NASA had selected an Indian Ayurvedic doctor to study the role of traditional medicine in space travel.  The post referred to a screenshot of a newspaper clipping shared widely on social media, featuring a headline that read: "NASA Selects Indian Ayurvedic Doctor to Explore Role of Traditional Medicine in Space Travel." PIB Fact Check clarified the situation with a firm rebuttal, stating:

"✔️The newspaper clipping is fake

✔️The image being circulated has been digitally altered (morphed)

✔️The New York Times has never published any such story"

Media outlets covered the claim featured in the viral video. Mint published a report titled, "Did NASA select Indian Ayurvedic doctor to explore role of traditional medicine in space travel? PIB debunks viral claim"

This confirms that the claim is not only false but also based on a fabricated media image designed to mislead the public.

Medical Dialogues Final Take

The widely circulated claim that NASA selected an Ayurvedic doctor from India for space medicine research is factually untrue and not backed by any official records or credible evidence. Additionally, PIB Fact Check has confirmed that this claim is FAKE.

Hence, the claim is FALSE.