A social media star who claimed she was in training as a career astronaut has been brought down to Earth by NASA.
Laysa Peixoto, 22, took to Instagram on 5th June to announce that she had been chosen for missions to Mars and the moon after passing astronaut training with the space agency.
But now it has emerged that her claims were apparently a wild exaggeration after being brutally shot down by NASA.
Laysa, from Contagem, in eastern Brazil, told her 156,000 Instagram followers how she had been selected for the 'Astronaut Class of 2025'.
Laysa Peixoto poses in undated photo. She claimed to be an astronaut and said she would be the first Brazilian to go to space. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (@astrolaysa/Newsflash/NX)
Laysa, who posts as 'Astrolaysa', said she had been signed on by private space exploration organisation Titans Space for a 2029 mission led by veteran NASA astronaut Bill McArthur.
She gushed: "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."
Laysa accompanied the post with a profile picture of herself in a NASA jacket and other snaps showing her in a blue astronaut jumpsuit.
Laysa Peixoto poses in undated photo. She claimed to be an astronaut and said she would be the first Brazilian to go to space. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (@astrolaysa/Newsflash/NX)
To complete the picture, she posted a further snap, now believed to have been faked, showing her in a space suit helmet with a NASA logo.
She added: "'It is a great joy to represent Brazil as an astronaut in such a decisive era of space exploration, which will change the history of humanity forever.
"It is an honour to carry the Brazilian flag with me as the first Brazilian woman to cross this frontier."
However, her mission quickly suffered a 'Houston, we have a problem' moment just days later when NASA was asked to comment on its glamorous rising star.
Laysa Peixoto poses in undated photo. She claimed to be an astronaut and said she would be the first Brazilian to go to space. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (@astrolaysa/Newsflash/NX)
The agency said in a statement: "While we generally do not comment on personnel, this individual is not a NASA employee, principal investigator, or astronaut candidate."
They explained that Laysa had taken part in a students' L'SPACE educational programme, which "is not an internship or job at NASA".
Titans Space also cast doubt on her 'selection', confirming only that she had been accepted for a 'candidate programme'.
The organisation is planning to begin space tourism flights in 2029, but so far has no licence to plan or run manned missions.
It is believed that what Laysa signed up for is an 'Inaugural Astronauts' programme, which for USD 1 million will offer clients a five-hour space trip with three hours in Zero-G.
Laysa Peixoto poses in undated photo. She claimed to be an astronaut and said she would be the first Brazilian to go to space. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (@astrolaysa/Newsflash/NX)
But now even Laysa's education qualifications have burned up in re-entry amid the bizarre row.
She claimed to be studying for a master’s degree in Quantum Physics and Computing at
New York's prestigious Ivy League college, Columbia University.
It then emerged that she had begun studying Physics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil but was dismissed in 2023 after failing to re-enrol.
Laysa later blamed the baffling mix-up on a social media "editing" snag.
A statement said: "In the announcement made on Instagram, the only statement given so far (11th June), having not checked any interview so far, Laysa explains that she was selected as an astronaut by the private company Titans Space.
Laysa Peixoto poses in undated photo. She claimed to be an astronaut and said she would be the first Brazilian to go to space. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (@astrolaysa/Newsflash/NX)
"At no time is there a mention of NASA, or that it would be an astronaut from the agency. The post was never edited.
"It's explicit and clear Laysa was selected to become a career astronaut by Titans Space, which will have as mission commander, Bill McArthur, a veteran NASA astronaut - the only mention made about NASA in the post."
The bizarre row turned Laysa into a laughing stock on social media.
One X user, going by '@atetose', said: "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 (to afford such expensive hobbies and courses)."
(MJ Leidig / newsX)