Nasa struggled to sample Bennu until Brian May revealed its hidden dangers

A rock musician working at a computer might seem an unlikely figure in an asteroid-sampling mission, but Brian May brought a specialist skill to Nasa’s search for a place to land on Bennu. The Queen guitarist, who also holds a doctorate in astrophysics, helped scientists turn spacecraft photographs into three-dimensional views of the asteroid’s rough surface. The work became particularly useful when the images revealed a landscape far more crowded with boulders than mission planners had anticipated. May’s contribution, made alongside planetary scientist Claudia Manzoni, later became part of a book documenting Bennu’s unusual terrain and the challenges faced by Nasa’s OSIRIS-REx mission.How Brian May turned spacecraft photographs into 3D viewsMay joined the OSIRIS-REx science team in January 2019, several months after the spacecraft arrived at Bennu. His involvement grew from an existing friendship with Dante Lauretta, the mission’s principal investigator, and a shared interest in astronomy. Lauretta was also a Queen fan, though the guitarist was expected to contribute scientific expertise rather than simply lend his name to the project.May had spent years developing an interest in ...