In support of conspiracy theories... ;-)

[Telepath]

There are numerous conspiracy theories about the moon landing being faked in a soundstage etc, etc.
Who's not seen the movie Capricorn One? (faked Mars mission)

Regardless of whether you believe the theories or not, this image shows that NASA is not above a little clever fakery.
Check for artifacts at the boundaries between shuttle / astronauts and the background (eg. wingtip).
Also, who really believes these astronauts are actually standing on the ground? (Check out their feet)

A bit of photoshop involved IMHO.




(3000 x 2000 - 1.4 MB)

[Clorox]

Note how the word discovery looks a little strangely placed on the shuttle, too.

[selden]

It's just a publicity image. They're often composed from several different pictures, although that might not be the case here. It has nothing to do with any conspiracy and a lot to do with the cost of production.

The Discovery logo is in the same location as it is in this daylight photo. (warning: it's very large: 3Kx2K)
http://www1.nasa.gov/images/content/152 ... pd1587.jpg

[Dollan]

Considering that the shuttle to be flown was likely on the back of a booster, and would have been for some time, when the crew was selected, it doesn't surprise me that a composite image would have been needed.

I can guarantee you that the shuttle shot was taken after its return from some previous mission, probably because its position in front of that sky would have been a great image regardless of the context. And the astronauts were almost certainly in front of a blue or green screen in the NASA photography studio. Look hard enough, and you'll likely find them, in that same pose, in other images.

Things like this are done all the time. One of my favorite subjects is Glacier National Park, where I grew up. Look on any advertisement or official website, and you'll see landscapes covered in startling green forests, sparkling blue waters, and skies so intense you'll want to weep. And while Glacier is indeed one of the most beautiful places on Earth (pardon my biasedness!), I can guarantee you that it does NOT look like that in person.

Photo manipulation si the way of the future, for advertising. It can grab the imagination and possibly rake in the bucks, even wehn it's done subtly. That shuttle shot is great PR, nothing more or less.

...John...

[Hungry4info]

If you look at the shadows on Discovery, especially around the exterior of the flight deck, you can conclude that the sun was relatively high in the sky at the time the image of the shuttle was taken. So, the background could be real, Discovery's certainly real, but that combination of the two isn't.

[Jeam Tag]

It has nothing to do with any conspiracy and a lot to do with the cost of production.

Hi Selden, I don't know if this doc have be translated -and diffused- in English, but there was an extraordinary docu(mentary) Fiction by William Karel, called "Op?©ration Lune" in French (2002), that explains the Apollo mystification, How Kubrick realized the lunar mission pictures, with comments by Nixon, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, Helms, Aldrin and others about the conspiracy. A great television document.

Be Careful, Spoiler:



(Don't read if you prefer)




The real question is, if you have a chance to see it for the first time: when do you understand it is a jape (1), because it begins with absolute real infos and comments, and turns into joke little step by little step... Astonishing and very good realization, good copy of the real documentary format we can see on the canal that have aired this for the first time, "arte" a cultural French-German canal.

(1) I'm a little innocent... so the first time i saw it, I just tilted when they quoted citations from "David Bowman", a NASA astonaut...
(No, HAL 9000 is NOT interviewed

The big deal : there are a lot of guys who have understood this film at first degree (don't know the English words for 'premier degr?©' in French) and year after year, it is repercuted as proof in the Conspiracy fans area
Incredible...