You might expect some excitement at a press conference to announce the discovery of life on Mars, but the scene at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., last August was over the top. In the front of the room, a pack of reporters and cameramen were jostling for position around the specimen, throwing elbows for a better look. A panel of scientists waited on the podium, their jet-lagged faces pasty in the glare of the tv lights. Suddenly a piercing, inhuman shriek filled the auditorium. NASA officials barked frantically from the lectern: Does anybody have a molt box? Can we hook up a molt box? Those of us on the fringe of the crush could only wonder: Was the Martian actually shedding its skin, right here on E Street? And if NASA didn’t have the equipment to handle the situation, for God’s sake, who would?
All this, before the press conference ...
