Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's One-man Mission - 60 Minutes Podcast

This segment on the 60 Minutes podcast is a profile on astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. This was first broadcast on CBS on March 22. Watch it here.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the most famous astrophysicists, is on a mission to make people think about the Earth from a cosmic perspective. This means realizing that the Earth isn't the only thing that matters. Selling out auditoriums all across the country, he wants to convince people that the planet is just a tiny speck in the grand scheme of the universe.

By convincing people of this fact, Tyson hopes this will bring the people of Earth close together. Maybe there won't be wars and conflict if people realized their insignificance.

The most mind-altering photo ever taken, according to Tyson, is the one taken by Apollo 8 nearly 46 years ago. This was a photo of Earth from outer space.

"This was the first time any of us had seen Earth the way nature intended. We're thinking we were exploring the moon, but really we discovered the Earth." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

After that picture was released, all of a sudden people were thinking about the Earth from a cosmic perspective. This reminded people that the universe is bigger than just us. After this, Earth Day was founded, legislation was passed to curb carbon emissions, and DDT was banned.

Earth from the moon, taken by Apollo 8

Tyson is been an influential figure on television, hosting Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and the upcoming talk show Star Talk. He became interested in the universe after visiting a planetarium.

He hopes others will become "star-struck" like he was. But in order to start thinking from a cosmic perspective, people need to start looking up.