Brian May has once again shown why he is regarded as a rock legend. He is not just the Queen guitarist, but he is also an astrophysicist. He recently helped NASA bring back its first ever asteroid sample to Earth.
May expressed that he felt extremely proud to be a part of the team that gathered the sample from the asteroid Bennu.
Hello NASA people, fans of space, and lovers of asteroids. This is Brian May from the band Queen, and I am very proud to be a part of the OSIRIS-REx team, said the 76-year-old musician in a video on NASA TV.
The OSIRIS-REx spaceship passed close to Earth on Sunday, seven years after it was sent to space to gather samples from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. In 2020, it took a sample from a really old asteroid that is over 4. 5 billion years old. Then in 2021, it started going back to Earth, specifically Utah.
May was really important in the mission. They took pictures from the spacecraft’s data that helped the leader and the team find a safe place to land and collect a sample.
In the video, May said sorry for not being with the team on the significant day.
“I am practicing for a Queen tour, but I miss you deeply as this valuable item is found,” he said.
“Today is a joyful day for the sample return mission, and I want to congratulate everyone who worked extremely hard on it. I especially want to highlight my dear friend Dante. ”
“He said, may God bless all of you. ”
After leaving the sample capsule in Utah, OSIRIS-REx is continuing its journey to study another asteroid, called Apophis, according to the space agency.
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Brian May assists NASA in returning first asteroid sample
