[E214]Did NASA time its Mars announcement to coincide with ……
Did NASA time its Mars announcement to coincide with ‘The Martian’?
NASA’s announcement confirming that it found evidence of water flowing on the surface Mars was celebrated by scientists searching for life in the universe — and by publicists[国际法学家；宣传人员；公法学家] at 20th Century Fox looking to promote “The Martian,” the upcoming Ridley Scott[雷利史考特（英国导演）] film starring[扮演主角，领衔主演]Matt Damon. In the film, Damon plays Mark Watney, an astronaut who must survive alone on Mars after being left for dead by his crew during a fierce storm[强风暴,狂风暴雨] on the red planet.
What we’re dealing with is wet soil[湿土], thin layers[薄层；薄膜层] of wet soil, not standing water[死水;积水].
Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona at Tucson, the principal scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s high-resolution[高分辨率] imaging experiment
According to a Yahoo News staffer who read the book, the long-suspected existence of water on Mars was not part of the planet’s hostile environment[恶劣环境]. And the water found on Mars — a briny[海水的；咸的；盐水的] liquid perchlorate[液态高氯酸盐] — isn’t drinkable, NASA said. No matter. The marketing team[营销团队] running the verified Twitter feed for “The Martian” quickly capitalized on NASA’s announcement. They even used NASA’s press conference for a mashup[混搭] “Martian” trailer[预告片]. Talk about some otherworldly[来世的；超脱尘俗的] timing … or was it? Did NASA time its Mars announcement to coincide with the film’s release?
No, the timing was dictated[口述;命令] by the publication of the Nature Geoscience article, which was released today.
Laurie Cantillo, a NASA spokeswoman, told Yahoo News.