Mar's Photos

Florida Today, October 10, 1998
Scientist Says New Mars Photos Being Withheld

Speaking at the Space Coast UFO Conference at the Hilton Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Florida on Friday, October 9, 1998, Vincent DiPietro, who worked for NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center for 23 years, claimed recent photographs taken by the Mars Global Surveyor were being withheld from the scientific community. DiPietro, a scientist who was first to evaluate photos of the surface of Mars taken by the Viking landers in 1976, cited a September Space News report on the growing number of planetary scientists disgruntled over the slow release of photographic data from the Mars Global Surveyor and "suggested that new images were being consciously withheld.

Images are radioed to Earth and downloaded by Malin Space Systems, Inc. of San Diego, California, NASA's contractor. DiPietro criticized MGS camera operator Michael Malin, whose (NASA) contract gives him a six-month proprietary embargo on the images. He and other scientists reported Malin had taken numerous photos of the so-called Face on Mars, other than the single one released by NASA in April, that appeared to reflect natural terrain rather than artificial features. “This leads me to believe that we are not getting all the facts from Malin Enterprises,” DiPietro said.