Neil deGrasse Tyson Says He’d Board Elon Musk’s Rocket Under One Condition

Neil deGrasse Tyson may be a astrophysics genius, but he tells TMZ he ain’t boarding Elon’s SpaceX rocket … unless Musk sends his own bloodline up first … as proof it won’t go kaboom!

We ran into Neil outside CBS Studios in NYC Thursday … and he cracked Elon’s gotta blast his mom Maye off first to prove the rocket’s safe — making it crystal clear … he’s down to explore the cosmos, but only if there’s a guaranteed round trip.

Catch the full clip … ’cause Neil also laid it out … he’s not interested in doing the basic orbital joyride. He wants the real deal — the Moon, Mars, an actual destination in the galaxy.

Neil also broke it down further for us — saying straight-up, anyone strapping their butt to a rocket is rolling the dice on something that could go very wrong.