Firmament dossier · The forbidden sky · 2 min read
NASA, composite images and distrust
The 1972 Blue Marble, the 2002 and 2012 mosaics and what can be checked
The full text of this study is in Portuguese; the summary, key points and official view are in English.
The most famous photograph of the whole Earth, the “Blue Marble”, was taken by the Apollo 17 crew on 7 December 1972. The equally famous 2002 and 2012 versions are not single photos: they are mosaics assembled from strips recorded by satellites in low orbit. One of the authors admitted in an interview that the image was digitally edited. For researchers of the firmament, this, together with the agency’s multi-billion budget, the differences in the size of the continents between images and NASA’s origins in the German rocket programme, justifies distrusting the official images. This dossier shows what is a composite, what is a single photo and how to check.
Key points
- NASA was created on 29 July 1958, succeeding NACA.
- The original Blue Marble (AS17-148-22727) was photographed about 29,000 km from Earth.
- The 2002 and 2012 “Blue Marbles” are mosaics of data from the Terra and Suomi NPP satellites.
- NASA’s budget is around 25 billion dollars a year.
- Since 2015, the EPIC camera on the DSCOVR satellite has published daily photos of the Earth’s sunlit disc.
What the official version says
The agencies explain that mosaics are needed because satellites in low orbit see small areas at a time; full-disc photos come from great distances (Apollo, DSCOVR at 1.5 million km, geostationary satellites at 36,000 km). The apparent size of the continents changes with distance and the camera lens. Images from satellites of several countries and from radio amateurs match one another.
Keep investigating
- World War II: propaganda, Paperclip and what came after A documented conflict, the techniques of deception and the scientists who crossed the Atlantic
- Operation Fishbowl: explosions high in the sky 1962, Starfish Prime and the tests that lit artificial auroras
- Gravity or density? Why things fall — and why some say "gravity" is unnecessary
Other languages: Português · Español
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