Queen guitarist Brian May played a huge role in bringing a piece of an asteroid back to earth.
The 76-year-old isn't just a guitar god but also an astrophysicist and played a big role in helping NASA collect a chunk of the asteroid named Bennu.
In 2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launched to collect the sample from the more than 4.5 billion-year-old space rock.
On Sunday the spacecraft flew by earth to deliver the asteroid to the Utah Desert.
According to CNN, May created stereoscopic images from the spacecraft’s data that allowed the leader of the mission, Dante Lauretta, and the team to locate a safe site to land and collect a sample.
May recorded a message saying he was prud to have been a part of the historic mission.
“Hello NASA folks, space fans, asteroid aficionados. This is Brian May of Queen as you know probably, but also immensely proud to be a team member of OSIRIS-REx. I’m rehearsing for a Queen tour but my heart stays with you as this precious sample is recovered."
“Happy sample return day, and congratulations to all who work so incredibly hard on this mission, especially my dear friend Dante.”
feature image from Associated Press via Chung Sung-Jun/Associated Press
