Liquid water on Mars: Ridley Scott says he 'knew about Nasa discovery' months before it was officially announced
The Martians director wasn't quite as excited as the rest of the world
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ridley Scott claims he was already aware of Nasa’s discovery of flowing water on Mars months before it was announced.
Evidence of liquid water on the Red Planet was announced to great fanfare on Monday morning. Experts now believe the discovery of water combined with hydrated salts, which prevents it from freezing, could be an indicator of environments potentially “habitable to certain kinds of bacteria”.
But Scott, who worked closely with Nasa on his forthcoming film The Martian, was less than impressed by the announcement, telling Yahoo Movies: “I knew that months ago.”
His film follows an astronaut’s attempt to survive on Mars after becoming stranded there during a dust storm. In one scene, Mart Watney, played by Matt Damon, makes water using a plastic tarp.
Scott said: ”When I first talked to NASA, we got into all kinds of stuff and I said, ‘So I know you’ve got down there [these] massive glaciers.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, that the massive white thing [on the surface of Mars] that gets covered with dust, we think that’s ice.’”
“And I said, 'Wow! Does that mean there was an ocean?’ Are we right now what Mars was 750 million years ago?’ And they went, ‘Uh, good question.’ So they want to go up there and find out.’”
The Martian is released in UK cinemas on Friday,
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments