“Thanks to advances in the relevant technology, we’ve been able to move the timeline up by quite a bit,” said NASA administrator Samuel Ward. “Construction on the Nevada soundstage has gone ahead of schedule, and the video editing technology we’re using to add stars in post-production is nearly complete.”

The seven-year goal is the result of years of preparation, Ward added.

“We’ve been testing each and every component of the mission to be doubly sure that nothing will go wrong,” said Ward. “Does it look outer space-y enough when our astronauts jump up and down in slow motion? Will anyone notice the cameraman’s reflection in the helmets? And, as always, we’re building off of the lessons we learned in ‘69. No wind blowing the flag this time.”

At press time, SpaceX announced its plans to fake a disastrous, failed moon landing by 2023.