mars will come to fear my botany powers. >> he's a botanist. who knew?tics seem keen on the martian" with david kaplan saying the film makes "gravity" look like a junior high science project and fred koppel of nerd says he would love to tell you what the best part of the martian is but it's all the best part. >> okay. >> next up, the walk. joseph gordon will levity and robert zemeckis looking to bring the story of felipe petite, his famed walk between the newly erectomied twin towers. it chronicles his dream of walking the wire a quarter of a mile in the sky. his nerve transforms a routine circus act into a lasting piece of performance art. >> calm down. they tell me it's not possible and there's no sign of possibility. there's nothing telling me it can be done. >> yo, how you doing? >> they're going up. go back to the hotel. if i'm not back in five hours, look for me at the police station. >> and critics telling audiences run, don't walk to the movie. get it? get it? the rap saying it's the rare movie that might please practically everyone and renee rod

and an artist who brings the beauty of botany to life. next on "quest." announcer: support for "quest" is provided by...

. >> mars, will come to fear my botany powers. >> at the core of this film and this story, though, isthe knee, he's so likable that utilitarianism is out of the window, bring this guy home. everything that it takes. >> yeah. >> but he's mr. -- matt is really one of the pleasantest experiences that i have had with an actor. he's a real partner in the process. and like my actors to be partners with me when i work. >> how accurate is the screenplay to your book? >> it's very close. fans of the book will not be disappointed. of course they had to cut stuff out otherwise it would be a 10-hour movie. but the stuff they cut out is if they had asked me what i would cut out. drew put together a screenplay that makes it so able to be shown visually. in the book it's just basically first person narration from mark in the form of log entries. so he came up with the idea, drew did, of having go pros all over the place and he's talking to them as as his log. >> all right. everyone just a few minutes now before we leave for mars. >> and that just brings it back to being a visual medium. i thought it

mars will come to fear my botany powers. >> has any of this changed the way you look at potatoes in. >> no. i'm a fan of potatoes. i like how they taste. >> reporter: just don't expect him to follow him into space. would you go to mars? >> no, hell no. i write about brave people, i'm not one of them. >> reporter: his knowledge of what happens in space has impressed many, including a former astronaut. >> the book, "the martian," nails the integrity of the astronauts creativity and improvisation improvisation. >> reporter: weir hopes his story will inspire other authors to reach for the stars. >> self-publish. you have nothing to lose. >> i'm still alive, surprise. >> reporter: erica hill, nbc news, san francisco. >> i love it. erica tells us andy's first big purchase was a piece of a meteorite from mars. if you'd like to read some of "the martian," we have an excerpt on today.com. dylan has our fans of the day. >> you guys are from jacksonville, florida. they're on a mother-daughter trip, which i love. it's not just you guys, there's a whole group of you. >> yes, it is. >> they're all

mars will come to fear my botany powers. >> reporter: as any of this changed the way you look at potatoes potatoes? >> no t i'm a big fan of potatoes. >> reporter: just don't expect him to follow watney into space. would you ever go to mars? >> no. hell no. >> reporter: why not? >> i write about brave people. i'm not one of them. >> reporter: for a man who has nog desire to leave karth's orbit. weir's knowledge of what happened in space has impressed many, including fors.r edastronaut, dr. john grunsfeld. >> the book really nails the integrity of the astronaut's creativity and improvisation. >> reporter: weir hopes his ory will inspire other authors to reach for the stars. >> if you can't break into the indust th, then self-publish. you've got nothing to lose. >> i'm still alive. surprise. >> reporter: erica hill, nbc news, san francisco. >> erica tells us andy's first big purchase, by the way, fter signing his book deal, was as piece of a meteorite from mars. if you'd like to read some, we have an excerpt on today.com. now to dylan and the plaza fans of the day. >> i'm joining by adele a

mars will come to fear my botany powers. >> matt damon in his turn as an astronaut and botanist strandedmars plans to get astronauts to the red planet are on track according to the latest report from nasa. the document details the agency's preparations for a mission to mars stressing the importance of global cooperation and fermenting the conclusion that mars is an achievable goal. joining us now for a better sense of how close we are is an author and physics professor at city university of new york. so this report in and of itself we were talking briefly and said one of the things that is interesting is how specific it is. >> i used to call nasa the agency to nowhere because it went where everyone has gone before. this is different. it lays out a specific time table so matt damon watch out. we are putting boots on the ground in about 20 years time. >> that is not very far off. >> that's right. it will be in three phases. the first phase will perfect the booster rocket and the orion spacecraft by 2018, three years from now. then by 2025 we land on an asteroid. astronauts landing on an as