LOS ANGELES: Hollywood film-maker Ridley Scott says he knew about water on Mars much before NASA made the news public that liquid water exists on the surface of the red planet.

Scott, 77, worked closely with the space agency on the making of his upcoming film The Martian, reported Entertainment Weekly.

According to the film-maker, the topic of water on Mars came up during his discussions with the agency. “I knew that months ago. 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,” he said.

But Scott specified that he only learned about Martian water after the film went into production, sparing him from having to adjust the plot.

“(Damon’s astronaut) would’ve found the edge of a glacier, definitely. It would be fascinating. But then I would’ve lost a great sequence. He has to make water, and the steaming device, and put up the plastic tents, which creates the humidity, which grows the plants, which is the most basic form of irrigation,” he said.