The Hollywood film, “The Martian,” opens to U.S. audiences on October 2. Actor Matt Damon stars as an astronaut left alone on Mars. His crew returned to Earth thinking he had died in a windstorm.

Damon’s character, Mark Watney, must survive with few supplies and somehow get a message to Earth that he is alive.

The plan to release the movie this week was some lucky timing. On Monday, the U.S. space agency NASA announced it had found strong evidence of liquid water on Mars. That again raised the possibility that, with liquid water, there could be life.

NASA also took a part in the development of “The Martian.” Director Ridley Scott and Matt Damon reached out to agency officials for help to make the story as scientific as possible.