Brian May holds a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London.
It will publish the world’s first complete asteroid atlas Dante Lorettaa planetary scientist at the University of Arizona and guitarist for Queen, Brian May – writes A.N Watchman. The musician received his PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London over 15 years ago.
The volume will be published Thursday, and the atlas uses images and data from the Osiris-Rex mission. The mission was carried out in cooperation with NASA and the University of Arizona, and its purpose is to deliver samples taken from Bennu to Earth.
The spacecraft was launched in September 2016 and is expected to return on September 24, 2023. Osiris-Rex collected material from the asteroid’s surface in 2020, and their analysis could reveal a lot about the early period of the solar system. Bennu is one of the “most dangerous” asteroids known, although there is a very small chance it might hit Earth at the end of the 22nd century.
Loretta and May met in 2016, and corresponded about Osiris-Rex. Loretta was the mission leader and a longtime fan of Mai’s music.
“As the OSIRIS-REx mission progressed, I couldn’t resist sharing the latest developments with him… To my delight, Brian showed such a keen interest in the mission and the science behind it. It was clear that he wasn’t just a casual fan, but a true space enthusiast and advocate for space exploration.”
Finally, May was included in the mission, and the musician contributed to the birth of holograms created on the basis of spacecraft data. These recordings also helped determine the safe landing spot, and will soon be published with the atlas. May said of the book, “Our goal was to present this extraordinary picture in a way that is understandable and interesting to scientists and non-scientists alike.”
