Neil deGrasse Tyson advocates for U.S. space exploration

No topic was off limits for the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall lecture series featuring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Monday at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The current director for the Hayden Planetarium and host of the 13-part documentary "Cosmos," provided an update of sorts on science current events for audience members. Tyson gave kudos to recent space and science related discoveries from across the science community including the expected arrival of the New Horizons mission to Pluto in May. He also included an opportunity to poke fun at critics who oppose his views on the classification of Pluto as a planet, clarifying that it is a dwarf planet

“Get over it,” Tyson said.

The summary of his lecture was a desire to encourage space exploration by the United States. Tyson made his best effort to take questions from all audience members during the Q&A portion the lecture and again after the luncheon.