Laurence Reisman: Q&A with Neil deGrasse Tyson: No question how Earth began; NASA needs to double budget, and many other insights from head of Hayden Planetarium in New York

'Capacity to travel where you want ... true measure of freedom and mobility'

Arianna Huffington, Joe Scarborough, Mark Shields, Bob Woodward. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The first four seem like household names. But Neil deGrasse Tyson?

I had no clue who he was until after I was asked whether I wanted to interview him leading up to his speech as part of the Emerson Center's Celebrated Speakers Series in Vero Beach. I was swamped, and reticent to do the homework necessary to ask some decent questions. A few minutes into that homework I realized Tyson's got a fascinating background.

Like me, he's a native New Yorker, and attended the Bronx High School of Science, the alma mater of my father and an institution whose alumni list could be a who's who of American business, science and arts. A Harvard graduate, he is director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural Science in New York City. Many people know him from TV appearances on the various late-night comedy-talk shows and for his work on PBS.

Recently, he answered some questions for me via email.

Q: Many of us remember fondly field trips we took to planetariums as children. Why do you think they are important assets to communities?

A: Research in education persistently demonstrates that children remember field trips long into adulthood, even after they have forgotten the names of teachers who took them there. So whether or not it's a planetarium, a school trip is an indelible experience for a student.

Q: Speaking of assets, what value do you think Americans should find in its Public Broadcasting System? Should Congress continue to fund it?

A: Programming on PBS, especially the level of intelligence it assumes for its viewers, remains unique in the broadcast and cable spectrum. If PBS were to go away, that would be another sign of the beginning of the end of the America I grew up in.

Q: If you were in charge and money were no object, what three missions would NASA have?

A: I have an unorthodox view of the problem. My single "mission" would be to create a scalable rocket that could take robots and/or astronauts anywhere in the solar system that science or geopolitics mandates. The capacity to travel where you want is the true measure of freedom and mobility.

Q: Given today's realities, what three priorities should NASA have?

A: 1) Getting its budget doubled; 2) planning missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids and elsewhere; 3) convincing the public that this plan is in the long-term economic health of the nation.

Q: What advantages did you gain by going to a selective high school such as the Bronx High School of Science? Would more students benefit from such a competitive education?

A: What mattered most to me was not the classes or the teachers or the curriculum, but being in the company of other motivated students. You would be surprised how much time you can recover for enlightening conversation during lunch time, between classes, traveling to and from school. That culture of learning was transformative for me.

Q: Did you have a favorite planet growing up? How about today? Why?

A: Saturn. One look at it through a backyard telescope and you would be hooked for life, too.

Q: If you were to pick one astronomy topic that might hook a 10-year-old, what would it be? Why?

A: All of them — black holes, search for life, future of the universe, dark energy, dark matter, asteroid impacts, Mars rovers, etc.

Q: Have you ever envisioned a day when "earthlings" will ever run into so-called "extraterrestrials" or "aliens?" Concisely, what do you think might happen, when?

A: They will surely be vastly smarter than we are — after all, it would be they who figured out how to cross the depths of space to visit us, and not we who figured out how to visit them. And if that's the case, my greatest fear is that they would pass us by, concluding that on Earth there is no sign of intelligent life.Q: In one or two sentences, how was the universe created?

A: All data point to a hot, dense, small, primeval fireball explosion of space, time, matter, and energy, we call the Big Bang — occurring 13 billion years ago.

Q: What's your favorite Hollywood movie regarding space?

A: "Contact" (1997) and "Deep Impact" (1998).

Q: How many stars (out of five, being the best) would you give "2001: A Space Odyssey"?

A: As a movie, three stars. As science fiction iconography, six stars

Q: You appear on the shows of Conan O'Brian, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert fairly regularly. Few of us will ever get to meet these guys. If we could pick only one to hang out with, who would it be? Why?

A: Jon Stewart. He's funny, witty, personable, broadly interested in everything, especially the role of science in society.

Neil deGrasse Tyson


4 and 7 p.m., Feb. 25


The Emerson Center, 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach


$65. Call 772-778-5249 or visit