Phys.org / Agence France-Presse
A historic lunar mission has demonstrated China's growing scientific prowess, but the feat has set off a torrent of misinformation targeting the United States that researchers say reflects their bitter competition in space.

China is celebrating the return of the Chang'e 6 probe to Earth on Tuesday bearing rock-and-soil samples from the little-known far side of the moon, following a 53-day mission that reignited old conspiracy theories about NASA's Apollo moon landings.

Agence France Presse's fact-checkers have debunked a litany of Chinese-language posts suggesting NASA's historic mission in 1969 –- that first landed humans on the moon—was staged as well as posts misrepresenting decades-old photos from subsequent landings.

The falsehoods, researchers say, risk stoking anti-U.S. perceptions in China amid already fraught relations between Washington and Beijing, as the superpowers engage in an intensifying space race.

"There is undeniably a great power rivalry in space between the U.S. and China, and any kind of misinformation about the activities by either country is concerning," Saadia M. Pekkanen, from the University of Washington, told AFP.

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