Famous for his soaring guitar solos and long curly locks, Brian May also has a longstanding interest in space. Indeed, in 2006 he returned to Imperial College after a 30-year hiatus to complete a PhD in astrophysics.
Writing his thesis must have taken its toll on May, because he hasn’t released a single since 1998. But now May is releasing a new tune just after midnight EST on New Year’s Day from the control centre of NASA’s New Horizons space mission.
According to the NME, the single features the voice of the late Stephen Hawking and is a tribute to the NASA mission, which will reach Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt on 1 January.
There is still time to enter Physics World’s Christmas jumper design competition. Send in your jumper design (sweater design to those in North America) for the chance to win a copy of Stephen Hawking’s final book Brief Answers to the Big Questions. The last day for entries is 7 January 2019 and there are more details here: “Christmas competition”.
