The "Secret Shield" keeping Astronauts alive 🛡️👨‍🚀 #neildegrassetyson #shorts

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]What about the ISS? If Scott Kelly could stay up there for a year >> One of the twins.

[00:00:04]>> One stayed on Earth and one went out.

[00:00:05]>> Right. Why couldn't you just extend that for whatever time necessary to go to Mars? E- Even if it's not to live there, if it's just to go there and dig a hole and come back.

[00:00:17]>> Right. So, there's a couple of things.

[00:00:18]First of all, on the ISS, they're still in the Earth's magnetic field. They still have a bunch of the shielding. Oh, wait. And what's that called, Neil?

[00:00:25]Wait. The field that goes all the way out like that?

[00:00:28]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:00:28]>> Oh, it's called the Oh, it's >> Magnetic field. No, it's not the magnetic It's the magnetosphere.

[00:00:34]>> Yeah. Yeah, think of X-Men. Yes, the magnetosphere. Go ahead. Go ahead.

[00:00:38]Yeah, exactly. It is like the X-Men.

[00:00:39]Yeah. They've still got that protection.

[00:00:41]Also, if something goes wrong >> [music] >> on the ISS, they'll be back on the surface of the Earth in a matter of hours. Like, they can just abort and come back home.