Neil deGrasse Tyson

But you use the word volatile in a way that the general public does not.

To us, if something's volatile, it's like ready to explode.

Unstable.

Ah, very good point.

Yeah, tell me what you mean by volatile, that a rock would have volatiles.

Wow, okay, okay.

So it's a time machine for you.

Definitely.

It's a time capsule, time capsule, that's right.

So you're saying it's hard to bring back the volatiles is the point here.

Our origins, understanding where we come from.

The dentist needs you to spend that much on candy.

Thank you.

I know.

So let's back up again.

Of all the asteroids that orbit the sun, most, of course, are in the asteroid belt.

Those are harder to get to, I guess, because a whole bunch of them cross Earth's orbit.

So one of them you picked, I happen to know, Bennu crosses Earth's orbit.

So is that what makes it a little more attractive because of how accessible it is?

And just to contrast that with what many people stereotype as an asteroid, a metallic asteroid, you know, and here at the American Museum of Natural History, our two biggest asteroids are iron and nickel, and they're huge, some of the biggest, you know, out there.