We already know from the trailer for Ridley Scott’s The Martian that Matt Damon is “gonna have to science the shit out of” a bad situation—namely, getting left behind on Mars after a violent storm. Now, in a pretty ingenious bit of publicity, the marketing team has recruited another man who knows a thing or two about science—Neil deGrasse Tyson—to break down some of the finer points of the movie’s plot. (In its description, the video is presented as a special episode of StarTalk.)
“Ever since our species first looked up at the sky, we’ve dreamed of reaching Mars,” Tyson says. “Back in 2029, that dream became real when the first humans set foot on the Red Planet. And in a few months, a new group of astronauts will make the journey.”
Tyson then outlines the space quest that will, presumably, not go as planned for Damon—including all the life-threatening perils one faces when traveling so far in space. Highlights include cosmic radiation, solar flares, and asteroids.
