How to confirm that this was not done inside a studio in Hollywood like many said the moon landing were?
Well, guess what? James Cameron (director of Aliens, Titanic, Avatar etc. etc.) is a
Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) co-investigator and technical advisor for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) "Curiosity" team at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) / Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA / JPL decided to shelve his last minute zoom cameras for a lack of time and also any meaningful scientific objective / purpose that couldn't be replicated by the existing Fixed Focal Length (FFL) Mast Cameras (Mastcams) system, thus he wouldn't then be able to get some super awesome Martian 3D footages in 720p High-Definition (HD) that he always wanted as a result. :bsmilie:
Imagine if it was Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay as co-investigator and technical advisor instead. :bsmilie: Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime) was heard narrating in a couple of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) though as part of an publicity outreach initiative.
It will be a real shame if it was all staged, isn't it? Who knows, perhaps one day in the near future you or someone of your future generations may be able to get up close personally with these rovers at some Martian museum.
"The 1979 Moon Treaty turned the jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies (including the orbits around such bodies) over to the international community. However, this treaty has not been ratified by any nation that currently practices manned spaceflight." -- Wikipedia "Outer Space".
The 1979 Moon Treaty is really quite redundant since the comprehensive
1967 Outer Space Treaty (which has been signed and ratified by some 100 nations including the European Union (EU), People's Republic of China (PRC), Russian Federation and the United States of America (USA)) already covered similar agreements including restrictions in claiming sovereignty on celestial bodies.
But seeing the nature of human beings, it is also quite naive to think that anyone will possibly abide by these agreements if it doesn't serve their own interests any good respectively.