Warriors star Stephen Curry apologized for the moon landing comments he made earlier this week while talking with retired astronaut Scott Kelly.
Curry wanted to backtrack his remarks and raise awareness around the work NASA does and so he hosted a 16-minute Instagram live video chat with Kelly.
His original comments came when he said during a recent appearance on the "Winging It" podcast he didn’t necessarily believe astronauts had landed on the moon. Curry, however, told ESPN he was not being serious when he made those comments.
He then apologized Saturday during his chat with Kelly, saying he is “honestly, genuinely sorry of how that came across.”
“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 totally honor that in every situation I put myself in,” Curry said (via The San Francisco Chronicle).
“The sense of national pride in how that exploration for mankind has pushed boundaries and limits of what is possible, you know, pushed our imagination for what we can accomplish. ... I do not want to in any way, shape or form demean the significant accomplishments that you, and the people you work with on a daily basis, make a reality.”
Kelly is a retired Navy captain and fighter pilot. He joined NASA in 1996 and made four trips to space during his career. He retired in 2016 after spending 11 consecutive months on the International Space Station.
He explained people occasionally ask at his speaking engagements whether the moon landing was faked. While he understands it's a joke, Kelly explained it can led down a precarious path.
“I get it. I think it’s funny at times, but what happens is then when people believe those things, they believe other things ... like climate change not being real and vaccines and 9/11 being a government conspiracy,” Kelly said. “That’s why I recognized why it’s important to have conversations like this to highlight science, and science is so important to our country and our economy.”
NASA invited Curry to its facility in Houston following his comments, and Curry said he hoped to visit in the next couple of months.
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