Here is some news that would make the brains of the boys from The Big Bang Theory short circuit as they contemplate the sheer power and genius of the pairing.

NASA has released a video to educate the public about the Curiosity rover that is narrated by Star Trek actors Wil Wheaton or William Shatner.

The four minute video is titled “Grand Entrance” and shows an animated depiction of entry, descent, and landing of the rover. There are two videos and they are both identical save for the choice of narrator.

"Shatner and Wheaton are mavericks in inspiring film, TV and social media audiences about space," said Bert Ulrich, NASA's multimedia liaison for film and TV collaborations. "NASA is thrilled to have them explain a difficult landing sequence in accessible terms that can be understood by many. Thanks to their generous support, Mars exploration will reach Tweeters, Trekkies and beyond!"

Curiosity was launched in November of last year and is expected to land on Mars on August 6th. The mission, if the ten foot long Curiosity lands safely into the Gale crater next to a huge mountain, will be two years long.

During this time the rover will collect most of the necessary data with a specialized robotic arm equipped with tools for scientists to achieve the mission’s four science goals: determine if there was ever life on Mars, characterize the geography and climate of Mars, and then use all that data to prepare for a manned expedition to the planet. President Obama has tasked NASA with a challenge to put a human on Mars sometime in the 2030s.

We add the “if Curiosity lands safely” bit because the team members who designed the  complicated steps the rover must make to go from 13,000 miles per hour through the  Martian atmosphere to soft landing have decided to call it the "seven minutes of terror." Any number of things could go wrong from its parachute deploying at the wrong time to the Sky Crane falling back onto Curiosity.

"The Curiosity landing is the hardest NASA mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, at NASA Headquarters in Washington via statement earlier this month. "While the challenge is great, the team's skill and determination give me high confidence in a successful landing.”

Visit the NASA website for more information about the mission.

For more information about Wheaton and Shatner please find your resident Trekkie; every social circle has at least one.