- "Well at least I didn't declassify Pluto from planet status!"
- ―Rodney McKay
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and, since 1996, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.
History
Neil deGrasse Tyson once stole an idea from Rodney McKay. However, according to both Tyson and Bill Nye, this may not be entirely true. Back in the day whenever another physicist came up with a new idea or published a new paper, Doctor McKay would swear that he was already working on something very similar but "Just hadn't gotten around to publishing it yet". (SGA: "Brain Storm")
Neil deGrasse Tyson at Malcolm Tunney's presentation
In 2006, Dr. Tyson played a role in declassifying Pluto as the Solar system's ninth planet. Because of Tyson, Pluto is now the first of the Plutoids—a new class of celestial object which, according to Bill Nye, is "cool!" In 2008, while playing a game of "Who would you rather" with Jennifer Keller, Samantha Carter mentioned Neil, choosing him over Brian Greene, another television physicist. Later in 2008, he, along with several other physicists, was invited to Malcolm Tunny's presentation on Earth about global warming. He appears to be friends with Bill Nye as he was often seen conversing with him at the event. (SGA: "Trio", "Brain Storm")
Behind the scenes
Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the few people to appear in the Stargate universe as themselves.