More than five million Internet users have been ecstatic in recent days on a video presented as the first images and the first sound recording of the Perseverance robot which arrived on February 18 on the planet Mars. A video titled « Amazing Mars » (Editor’s note, Incredible Mars) and unveiling a panorama of the red planet, accompanied by wind noises and a somewhat disturbing spatial sound.
Problem, this presentation of the ocher earth, rocks and desert slopes does not come from Perseverance. Indeed, a little joker hastened to publish on the internet a two-year-old video produced by the Curiosity probe (arrived on Mars in 2012), to which a soundtrack was added.
If many Internet users have been taken in, others have quickly discovered the deception. First of all, the previous probe was not equipped with microphones and was therefore unable to pick up any sound.
In addition, in the video presented, traces of caterpillars appear on the dust of the Martian soil, a sign that the robot has moved. However, a few hours after its landing, Perseverance had not moved from its location.
Also, in the very last seconds of the video, a name appears on one of the robot elements. And this is none other than that of « Curiosity ».
And finally, the internet publication was made at 6:34 am, while Perseverance had not yet reached Mars.
Despite this initial deception, more videos and photographs of the Red Planet are expected to appear soon, as well as sound recordings. The NASA robot is indeed equipped with cameras and microphones of exceptional quality, which will allow us to know a little more about this planet which has fascinated our imagination for decades.
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