This photo, taken by astronautics grad student and hobby photographer Ved Chirayath, was meant to be a bit of free promotion for NASA and space exploration. With the help of a Viking re-enactment troupe and scientists from the Ames Research Center, he put together a shot that was meant to connect current NASA projects to the exploration-oriented Viking culture. What if two of Earth's greatest explorers met face-to-face?
But the photo, which was done on Chirayath's own time, for fun, has become the center of an extensive investigation initiated by Senator Chuck Grassley, aimed at discovering whether dastardly NASA scientists were using taxpayer money to make whimsical photos. They weren't. Ironically, though, the investigation did use taxpayer money. More, Chirayath estimates, than it would have cost him to get such a photo done by a professional.
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