Queen guitarist\u2013slash-astrophysicist Brian May\u2019s role in the New Horizons mission.<\/p>\n
Brian May, guitarist for the band Queen, has a new gig these days.<\/p>\n
As a member of the New Horizons team at NASA, which he joined in 2015, his name appears at the bottom of\u00a0color images<\/a>\u00a0of a space rock called MU69 (also known as Ultima Thule), captured during a flyby on Tuesday. It\u2019s the most remote object that\u2019s ever been visited by a spacecraft and the oldest known relic of the early solar system, May explains on his\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and it holds clues to our planetary system\u2019s origin. \u201cThat same solar system that was born so that you and I could be born!\u201d he writes. When\u00a0viewed cross-eyed<\/a>, May\u2019s images provide a 3D view of the object, revealing its topography.<\/p>\n May is something of a 3D nerd. He has a whole\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0on stereoscopic photography and has a book called\u00a0Queen in 3-D<\/em><\/a>\u00a0filled with pictures he took with a stereoscopic camera that he\u00a0carried<\/a>\u00a0around during his time with the band.<\/p>\n He also released a single about the flyby and an accompanying music video. \u201cThis project made music in my head, and that\u2019s what you\u2019re hearing,\u201d May told reporters,\u00a0according to Space.com<\/a>. The Queen-esque anthem is a worthy listen for taking a long trip, whether through space, on the road, or at work. \u201cThe fruits of wishful thinking, we taste them for real,\u201d the song goes. \u201cWe\u2019re off to new horizons, so hold onto the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n