Watch Nerd Dream Team Stephen Colbert and Neil deGrasse Tyson Drive a March Rover in New York!



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The astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson and the night television host Stephen Colbert took one of NASA's rovers for a trip to the streets of Manhattan last week.

NASA's Mars rover concept vehicle, which looks like an enhanced version of the Batmobile, made a special appearance in an episode of the CBS series "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" aired Friday, Sept. 22. [We Explored NASA’s Concept Mars Rover, and It Was Out of This World]

Designed and built by Florida-based Parker Brothers Concepts, the six-wheeled tank-shaped rover was designed as an all-terrain vehicle prototype for the first humans on the red planet. "Before sending it out on March, they want to see if it can withstand the inhospitable atmosphere of urine – based urine in New York," said Colbert before hearing the news. to enter with his friend Neil.

The duo hurtled down the 53rd street at a "gloomy" speed of about 5 km / h (about 3 km / h).

During their adventure, the two men made a stop at a Duane Reade convenience store to collect equipment for their imaginary trip to Mars. The items in Colbert 's basket included adult diapers to wear under their spacesuit, eyebrow pencils in case "our eyebrows are burning" when arriving in the atmosphere and a dozen of them. eggs to run with the rover Mars

While Colbert was very excited about going to Mars, Tyson had no desire to travel to the red planet himself. "Who will want to do that?" Tyson asked. "I do not see people lined up to colonize Antarctica, and Antarctica is calmer and wetter than any place on Mars." For that, Colbert responded: "Matt Damon has proven that on Mars you can grow potatoes in your poop.You can not do that in Antarctica." In the 2015 film "The Martian", Damon's character survived on potatoes.

The adventure of Colbert and Tyson ended when they shot Mars in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater, illegally parked on the side of the road. "If it's started, that's the problem of NASA," Colbert said.

This episode of "The Late Show" was not the first time Colbert had fun with NASA equipment. In 2009, while he was still on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," he convinced NASA to name his zero gravity treadmill. To date, astronauts at the International Space Station use the combined operational load (or COLBERT) external resistance treadmill to exercise in space.

Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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