NASA Mars rover panoramic image altered to include purported fly | Fact check
The claim: NASA footage shows fly on Mars rover
An Oct. 24 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows purported images from a NASA Mars rover mission. The video appears to scan the landscape before zooming in on the front of the rover. The close-up shows a blurry shape that resembles a fly.
"Things that make you scratch your head a fly on the Mars rover they really need to get some better video editors for when they film the 'mars missions' on devon island, ridiculous (sic)," reads the post's caption.
The post was shared more than 100 times in about nine weeks.
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Our rating: Altered
The image with the purported fly in the post is altered, according to NASA. The images in the post match an authentic panoramic compiled from images captured by the NASA Mars Perseverance rover, a robotic mission launched in 2020. However, the purported fly is not in the original image.
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover panoramic image altered
The video in the post appears to have been created by panning and zooming in on a still panoramic image that was compiled from many images captured by NASA's Mars Perseverance rover in 2021. The position of rocks on the Martian surface and shadows near the purported fly match the authentic panoramic image − which can be seen on Arizona State University's website.
However, the blurry fly shape is not present in the original image.
"The content of the post you reference includes an image from Mars that has been changed from the original," Alana Johnson, a NASA spokesperson told Paste BN.
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Devon Island, referenced in the post, is an uninhabited Canadian island with a harsh climate that "mimics the environmental conditions on Mars and other planets," according to NASA. The agency uses the island to test vehicles and other technology related to planetary exploration.
But the images from the Perseverance rover were taken on Mars, not in Canada. Evidence that Mars missions are real includes photos captured by Perseverance and other Martian rovers and satellite missions. NASA includes descriptions of various Mars missions on its website.
Paste BN has debunked other posts that claimed NASA space missions were staged on Earth. For instance, some social media users spread an image of an International Space Station training facility and wrongly claimed it showed the actual space station was located in a pool.
Paste BN reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Reuters also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Alana Johnson, Dec. 27, Email exchange with Paste BN
- NASA, Feb. 21, 2021, Mastcam-Z’s First 360-Degree Panorama
- NASA, accessed Dec. 26, Haughton Mars Project
- NASA, accessed Dec. 27, All Mars Resources
- NASA, accessed Dec. 27, Mars Exploration
- Arizona State University, accessed Dec. 26, Mastcam-Z panoramic image
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