A movement, which appears like a mouse scurrying away, on the flaming hot engines of Space X's Falcon 9, has left netizens believing that a mouse accompanied astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their historical journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

The launch took place on May 30, three days after the first attempt to launch the "Crew Demo-2" mission on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was delayed due to bad weather on May 27. The rocket carried two US astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, and a toy dinosaur.
Mouse Running on Rocket's Fuselage Goes Viral
The historical event was live streamed with over 10 million viewers watching it globally. The event was special for the US as it saw the lift-off of US astronauts from from American soil after a lull of nine years.
Looks like a MOUSE hitchhiked a ride on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket launch today!
— BeachMilk (@BeachMilk) May 31, 2020
The mouse showed a truly amazing ability to withstand heat!
pic.twitter.com/lv9z5xgDaV
The "mouse" was spotted by a viewer who pointed out the "rodent" scurrying around the rocket's fuselage. Sharing the 23-second long clip on Twitter, the user, who goes by the name Beach Milk, wrote: "Looks like a MOUSE hitchhiked a ride on Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket launch today! The mouse showed a truly amazing ability to withstand heat!"
Yeh it's old footage if Elon is using this again... Then he's really stupid!!! pic.twitter.com/re7JNPJfyr
— Jerryfletcher (@Jerryfl54707913) May 31, 2020
The clip garnered 1.2 million views since it was uploaded on May 31. While several users debated whether the mouse was an actual rodent or frozen oxygen, one pointed out that it was an old video of Space X related to the previous launches undertaken by the private player.
Twitter Divided Over the 'Space Mouse'
Soon after the clip was uploaded, it created a furor on the micro-blogging site. "I don't care what you say, that is a mouse," wrote one user. "Barn girl here... Walks like a mouse, talks like a mouse, looks like a mouse... it is a mouse," wrote another.
"Oh man poor little guy wonder how long he lasted? Maybe he held on until breakaway," pointed out another.
Frozen oxygen https://t.co/4ZjKxZP52A
— General Sherman’s burner (@Sherman_burner) June 1, 2020
Quashing the claims of a mouse hitchhiking a ride to outer space, one user wrote: 'If it was truly in outer space then how did the mouse remain tethered to the rocket and not float away?"
"Why wasn't it scorched to death by the intense heat? This is clearly a hoax," backed another.
That can't be a mouse, those thrusters are massive. It would be the size of a dog or something. There are a few explanations online of "mouse-like" movement of frozen oxygen on spaceX rockets online. It's called the Leidenfrost effect.
— Brendan (@nadnerb217) June 1, 2020
"That's a bead of water that's condensed on the foil, you can see it drip off onto the rocket end, and as it's so hit it fizzles and makes it 'run off to the side," said a user.
SPM I don't know how to get this video out there and thought maybe you'd like to try? It's video of an actual MOUSE crawling on the fuselage of the Spacex rocket as its on its way to the ISS. It's clear proof the footage is a total hoax.https://t.co/gLCUNw4hrj
— âŒOldSchool⌠(@mikeab64) June 1, 2020
"Its evaporation and water vapor trapped on the cold side of the rocket sliding down and into the crevices of the rocket hood," said another user.