National Geographic goes to space with Disney and Pixar's Lightyear

(Heroic music) I'm Nadia Drake with National Geographic. Today, we're at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory with Chris Evans, who plays Buzz Lightyear in the new Disney and Pixar movie Lightyear. Hanging out with the intrepid freshly returned from orbit, astronaut Tom Marshburn. I have been completely fascinated with space travel, all things NASA since I was a kid. So, the fact that my new film, Lightyear, has let me speak to actual astronauts is a real dream come true. Let's find out what life in space (heroic music fades out) is really like.

• [Buzz] Here we go. (pushes lever forward) (spaceship takes off)
• [Mission Control] We have lift off. (curious music)

And of course, Tom has actually been to space. What's it like to look up into space? You really fall in love with the Earth again. Every continent has its incredibly beautiful sights. Do the stars look different? The stars look gorgeous, but they don't twinkle because there's no atmosphere. During the day, it's just black. And that is, to me, the most riveting thing. (ship flies through atmosphere)

• [Izzy] I can see stars.
• [Izzy] That is space!
• [Buzz] What is happening right now?
• [Darby] She's afraid of space.
• [Buzz] What?
• [SOX] She should be, it's horrible!

What was harder than you expected about being in orbit? It's really hard to move around with control. It's hard to stop. Somebody's got to grab you and plant you somewhere and get your feet somewhere. It amazes me we can get science done up there with everything floating around all the time. In our film, Lightyear, Buzz has a robot companion, SOX, this little cat.

• [SOX] Hello, Buzz. (Buzz yells) I am SOX, your personal companion robot. How do you cope with being so alone? We got each other, but we also have all the mission controls. And there are some floating -
• [Tom] A.I. robots up there.
• [Nadia] Hmm. Like taking pictures where we need them, -
• [Chris] Wow.
• [Tom] put a light, where we need it.

So, I've heard that some astronauts get space sickness.

• [I.V.A.N] Please record your last words. (answering machine beep) Do not vomit inside the vehicle. (digital tape rewinds) (recording repeating back)
• [Buzz] Do not vomit inside the vehicle.

About three out of five get some form of nausea. There's no up, down, left or right. So, your body feels like it's spinning. Getting used to that is kind of tough. And also, your stomach's floating. Everything on the inside is floating. (epic trailer hit) (pushes button and lever) (ship jumps to hyperspeed) (hyperspeed noises)

• [Mission Control] JPL, this is Mission Control, Houston.
• [Chris] Wow. This is Tom, Chris, and Nadia. We hear you loud and clear, Tom. Great to hear your voice. Just seems like yesterday that you were up here with us.

So, I can only imagine, what's some of the hardest parts of training? We trained in a giant pool called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. It enables us to understand how to move outside. Years of training goes into preparing for the actual flight itself. (elevator doors open) A year of work for a four-minute flight.

• [Buzz] Isn't that something?
• [Díaz] Huh. In our film, Buzz has to utilize lightspeed to accomplish his missions.

How fast were you guys moving on the journey up there and how fast you guys moving now on ISS? You know, we essentially start at a relative speed of zero on the ground. And then, within eight and a half minutes, we're traveling 17,500 miles per hour. And that's what we're doing right now, five miles per second.

• [Kjell] And the other incredible thing (Chris reacts astonished) is that when it's time to come home, we've got to shed that speed to get home safely.

• [Nadia] I'm curious about the food on board. How many Michelin stars would you give the chefs?

• [Kjell] Our space food lab does an amazing job, so half of that food is rehydrated, we add water to it. And then the other half is prepared and then sealed in these kind of metallic envelopes. And then we put those on, essentially a hot plate. (meal squeals, shakes, and poofs) (microwave bell dings) (food slides out and sizzles)

I really miss you guys.

• [Tom] Y'all stay safe, can't wait to see you.

• [Chris] This was fantastic, easily the best part of press I've ever done and probably one of my favorite conversations of my life. Roger that.

• [Nadia] Thanks for joining us here at JPL, and I hope you enjoyed hanging out with Tom and Chris and our friends aboard the International Space Station. Disney and Pixar's Lightyear. Rated PG. Now playing only in theaters.