Tony Dokoupil mistakenly thought astronaut Buzz Aldrin was dead while debating the moon landing with his CBS Mornings coanchors.
During the Friday, October 31, episode of CBS Mornings, Dokoupil, 44, Nate Burleson and Gayle King were discussing Kim Kardashian’s controversial comments about the moon landing, leading to a spirited conversation between the journalists.
“We’re talking five or so decades we haven’t been back,” Burleson said, offering a defense to Kardashian’s perspective. “Now, I get it. NASA has said in the past it’s too expensive or the hype has died down or priorities have shifted for the U.S. in our plans to go to the moon. But yet and still, we haven’t been back.”
Burleson added that he was “not saying” that Kardashian was “right” but “her curiosities are fair.”
“We did it with less technology than a flip phone, with computers the size of refrigerators and no GPS,” he continued. “You’re telling me that we’ve lost the WiFi password to the moon? We can’t get there?”
In an attempt to debunk Burleson’s remarks, Dokoupil made a gaffe about Aldrin, 95, who was part of the 1969 Apollo space mission.
“Nate, it is Halloween. Buzz Aldrin’s skeletal bones are going to come out of the ground and punch you in the face,” Dokoupil quipped.
Mere seconds later, Dokoupil realized the errors in his ways and was unsure if Aldrin was actually dead.
“I want to make sure Buzz Aldrin is actually dead. I kind of lost track of it,” he said, asking producers for clarification. “Please tell me right now if it’s not, because I want to clear this up.”
Dokoupil also explained his joke because Aldrin “used to punch people in the mouth who doubted the moon landing.”
Burleson explained that he wasn’t trying to stoke “the flames of conspiracy theory” but thought it was valid for people to question it. Dokoupil then gave a passionate speech about the history of the space race.
“We were highly motivated. We were in a race with the Soviet Union who we thought was going to go up there and drop nuclear weapons on our heads,” he recalled of the historic event. “We were afraid for our lives and we spent a huge portion of our national wealth on this. It’s like every student was trying to be the best scientist to work on the problem. Yes, it happened. And then we were like, ‘Alright, we did it’ and we took a break. And we haven’t been back.”
Burelon then confirmed that Aldrin “is alive,” which was a relief to Dokoupil.
“Buzz, come on the show. We love you. Punch me in the face, actually. Punch both of us!” Dokoupil declared before offering his sincerest apologies. “Buzz Aldrin, my apologies. I think Kim Kardashian owes you an apology as well.”
Kardashian made headlines after she revealed that he believed the moon landing was fake during the Thursday, October 30, episode of The Kardashians.
“I don’t think we did [go to the moon]. I think it was fake. I’ve seen a few videos on Buzz Aldrin talking about how it didn’t happen. He says it all the time now,” she said, referring to a doctored video of the astronaut that has misled countless people. “Maybe we should find Buzz Aldrin. Oh, my God, Khloé [Kardashian] should get him on her podcast. A conspiracy theory podcast.”
NASA responded to Kardashian’s comments, confirming the moon landing did occur.
“Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before … 6 times!” NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy tweeted on Thursday. “And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS. We won the last space race and we will win this one too 🇺🇸🚀.”
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