Twitter asks ‘who wants to be transported OFF THIS PLANET’... gets over 10k comments totally not about NASA’s Mars mission

An attempt by Twitter to promote Thursday’s mission to Mars liftoff from Florida didn’t exactly go as planned, as people either showed they had no idea about the upcoming event or were only interested in trolling.

“Who wants to be transported off this planet?” the official Twitter account published on Wednesday. While the background of their avatar, featuring the famous bird, has been changed to resemble the surface of Mars and their profile banner now shows an image of a NASA rocket launching in space, the generic tweet went over most people’s heads.

It likely didn’t help that in a year filled with a pandemic that has no end in sight, an economic shutdown, record unemployment, rioting, bitter political arguments headed into a contentious presidential election, offering to transport people off this planet seems more a statement about the state of the world than a promotion of a space mission.

Twitter even went out of their way to remind people what the tweet was actually about by directly responding to some and putting images of their avatars in space suits.

“Yes please planet where no one cares about what you look like, what designer brands you do or don't wear or have just blissful peace and good music!!!!, and a seaside with wine and crisps! too much to ask?” one user responded. 

“Not sure about the seaside, but Mars checks most of those boxes,” Twitter replied. 

The Mars name-drops happened multiple times with many still not seeming to get the hint.

Other tweets were what you find on Twitter on a typical day — Donald Trump bashing, mask virtue signaling, binary political disagreements, etc.

Considering mainstream media coverage surrounding the launch pales in comparison to the attention given to bickering between politicians and offensive tweets, it should come as no surprise how few actually know the event is even taking place. 

NASA’s rover Perseverance will be launched this Thursday and follow orbiters released by China and the United Arab Emirates, both sent out last week. The joint mission is being run by both NASA and the European Space Agency. 

Handout of technicians working on the heat shield of NASA's Orion space capsule at Kennedy Space Center in Florida ©  REUTERS/NASA/Handout

It will take seven months for Perseverance to reach Mars where it will look for evidence of microscopic life. Any samples collected will be returned to Earth by 2031. 

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