Curry signals willingness to meet with NASA over Moon landing doubts

[December 12, 2018]  By Rory Carroll

(Reuters) - Three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry on Tuesday signaled that he is willing to take NASA up on its offer to tour its lunar lab in Houston after his pronouncement this week that he does not believe humans ever walked on the Moon.

During the "Winging It" podcast released on Monday, the Golden State Warriors guard asked fellow players Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore whether they believed humans had ever been to the Moon.

The players said they did not, to which two-time MVP Curry said: "They're gonna come get us. I don't think so either."

"Sorry, I don't want to start conspiracies."

After Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon in 1969, a further 10 American astronauts on five subsequent missions stepped onto the lunar surface.

The 30-year-old's statement created a commotion on social media and led NASA to extend an invitation to Curry to come and see evidence of the Moon landing for himself.

"There's lots of evidence NASA landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon from 1969-1972," Allard Beutel, a spokesman for the U.S. federal agency, said in a statement.

"We'd love for Mr. Curry to tour the lunar lab at our Johnson Space Center in Houston, perhaps the next time the Warriors are in town to play the Rockets," he added.

Beutel said the lab housed hundreds of Moon rocks and the Apollo mission control.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making a three-point basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

"During his visit, he can see first-hand what we did 50 years ago, as well as what we're doing now to go back to the Moon in the coming years, but this time to stay," he said.

Curry responded on Twitter to a CNN story on the controversy that included NASA's statement with a smiling emoji wearing sunglasses, an indication that he may be willing to make the trip when the Warriors visit the Houston Rockets on March 23.

The commotion over his remarks came after Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving was widely mocked last year for saying he believed the world was flat.

In October, Irving apologized for the comments, saying science teachers had approached him to say he was making their jobs more difficult.

Curry attended Davidson College in North Carolina from 2006-2009 but left for the NBA before his final year and did not graduate.

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)

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