Space

How Queen's Brian May Helped NASA's Bennu Asteroid Sample Mission

At a Glance

Brian May has a doctorate degree in astrophysics.
This wasn't his first NASA collaboration.
May is also credited with writing some of Queen's most enduring hits.

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NASA's first-of-its kind mission to deliver an asteroid sample to Earth is remarkable in many ways. One of them involves the legendary lead guitar player for one of the most famous rock bands on the planet: Brian May of Queen.

May, who holds a doctorate degree in astrophysics, is credited with helping to map the asteroid Bennu as part of OSIRIS-REx, a mission launched by NASA in 2016 to fly into outer space and retrieve a sample of Bennu.

The capsule carrying the sample landed in the Utah desert Sunday.

How The Project Evolved

May has worked with a scientist named Claudia Manzoni for several years to create realistic 3D images, called stereos, out of images posted online from various space missions. A business owned by May called London Stereoscopic Company makes a special eyepiece to view stereo photos.

May sent OSIRIS-REx mission director Dante Lauretta some stereos made from OSIRIS-REx mission images.

"And he was amazed," May told Space.com in a recent interview. "He said 'I have never seen it like this, this is such a great tool and this might be able to help us find the landing site that we need in order to get that sample safely.'"

May worked with Manzoni, Lauretta and others to map Bennu and help find a landing zone for the probe that collected the sample, according to University of Arizona Press, which published the images in a book in July. "Bennu 3-D, Anatomy of an Asteroid" has six co-authors including May, Lauretta and Manzoni.

Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May is recognized during a July 17, 2015 New Horizons science briefing at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May spent a long birthday weekend with the science team, attending two morning science plenaries, a meeting with the Student Dust Counter group, and working on stereo images of Pluto with the Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team.
(NASA/Joel Kowsky) — Astrophysicist and rock legend Brian May is recognized during a July 17, 2015, New Horizons science briefing at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
(Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

From Rockstar To Astrophysicist

May graduated from Imperial College London with a degree in physics and math before he formed Queen in 1970 with lead singer Freddie Mercury and guitarist Roger Taylor, according to his bio in IMDB. He earned a Ph.D. from the college in 2007.

The Bennu effort wasn't May's first involvement with NASA. In 2015, he was named as a science collaborator on NASA's New Horizons mission, which sent a spacecraft to fly past Pluto. May created the first-ever high quality stereo image of Pluto.

"I am on the outside of NASA, nobody pays me, but I love it," May told Space.com.

He is also credited as songwriter on many of Queen's most enduring hits, including "We Will Rock You," "I Want It All" and "Who Wants To Live Forever."

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