- The American space agency NASA has been accused of doctoring
its pictures of Mars to make the Martian surface conform to our impression
of the famously red planet.
-
- Nasa has been accused of digitally "tweaking"
drab brown scenery to make it redder. It has even been suggested that Nasa
removed green patches to hide evidence of life.
-
- The theories gained credence after NASA told New Scientist
that "getting the colours right is a surprisingly difficult and subjective
job", the magazine reports today.
-
- Most of the pictures have been taken through green, blue
and infra-red filters - instead of green, blue and standard red filters,
which would have produced more accurate colours.
-
- Dr Jim Bell, who worked with NASA on the Mars rovers'
cameras, said infrared filters were used because they helped geologists
to distinguish rock types.
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- In reality, Mars appears red largely because of the dust
in its atmosphere.
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