A video of a vast desert-like terrain has gone viral. The video, shot by a robot, zooms into metal-like objects at a distance before panning to show the entire brown arid landscape.
Those sharing the video claim it shows recent, high-resolution footage of the surface of Mars released by NASA.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “NASA releases clearest footage of Mars yet. This is 140 million miles away from us!”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is digitally created.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by an Instagram page on October 13.
The video was shared with a caption that reads, “NASA releases clearest footage of Mars yet. This is 140 million miles away from us!”
The Instagram bio mentioned the user as being a digital creator. Many similar photos of space were shared on the page.
Moreover, NASA had not shared any such video on its official website.
NASA also has an official X account where it shares audios and videos captured from Mars. However, the video was not found among them.
Thus, it is clear that the viral video was not shared by NASA.
So, we checked if the content is AI-generated. However, on checking it with two different AI-image detectors, Hive and SightEngine, we found the content was not AI-generated. However, it is clear that the video was digitally created.
Thus, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
What has NASA found on Mars?
While the video is digitally created, NASA’s missions on Mars are making genuine and exciting discoveries. For instance, recent findings from the Perseverance rover have focused on potential biosignatures—signs that suggest past life may have been present. However, further studies are required before any conclusions can be drawn. Some of these studies include:
In September, NASA announced that a rock sample collected by the Perseverance rover, after undergoing a year of rigorous peer review, contains potential biosignatures.
The rock, found in an ancient river channel, contains unusual patterns and minerals that, on Earth, are often byproducts of microbial activity. Scientists caution, however, that non-biological processes could also create these features.
