This is an alternate color version of a Viking 1 picture of Mars taken July 24 (see Viking 1-55). Note the orange cable leading to one of the spacecraft's descent rocket engines (foreground). The cable, which is bright orange, appears dull. This suggests that this version is less accurate. This version has the salve color balance as the other, but the colors are only 60% saturated. This means that 40% gray has been arbitrarily added during processing of data at the Jet Propulsion Lab- oratory. When compared with the other version, the colors in this picture are predictably less intense, and, at first glance, more "normal." The brightness of the cable is a clue to the true visual colors.
