Yesterday scientists at NASA revealed that they had, indeed, discovered evidence of liquid water on Mars. As the necessary agent for life, that’s a pretty big deal for the Red Planet and it could mean that organic life, in one form or another, once existed there.
The timing of the announcement also had many people asking questions since a new Ridley Scott film, ‘The Martian”, is hitting theatres this weekend. Based on a sci fi by Andy Weir, the movie follows a stranded and isolated Matt Damon as he attempts to survive and thrive on the martian surface. Wired.com has called the movie an enormous advertisement for NASA’s unfunded Mrs mission. Imagine two hours of MacGuyver on Mars but with potatoes instead of explosives. Was the announcement timed to coincide with the big movie opening? Is there a profit sharing agreement in place?
NASA says no, that it was purely coincidental, but according to Ridley Scott they had been friendly with some of their water findings. From the New York Times:
“Mr. Scott said in an interview with The Times on Monday that the head of NASA had shown him the photos of water about two months ago, and that had the news come out before production of “The Martian” began, it would have affected key plot points in the film.”
Oh well. Both NASA and “The Martian” took to twitter on Monday in cross-promotion. Check it out:
.@NASA Good news for mankind. GREAT news for Watney. #MarsAnnouncement #TheMartian pic.twitter.com/HnY2gZyf1a
— The Martian Movie (@MartianMovie) September 28, 2015
