People who build and launch NASA’s deep space probes are usually an interesting crowd. But it’s hard to top the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission with its team ranging from North Alabama rocket builders to a British rock star.

The samples that landed flawlessly in the Utah desert Sept. 24 started with the flawless launch of the collector by an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance on the Tennessee River in Decatur. In between launch and drop came sample scooping on the asteroid Bennu 63,000 miles away.

We’ve also learned that OSIRIS-REx did its work on Bennu with a queen’s help – specifically Queen rock guitarist Brian May, who has a PhD in astrophysics. May is a friend of asteroid sample mission leader Dante Lauretta. The two share an interest in space and a passion for Tucson, Az.

“As the OSIRIS-REx mission progressed, I couldn’t help but share some of the latest developments with him,” Lauretta wrote in the preface of “Bennu 3-D: Anatomy of an Asteroid,” a book he co-authored with May. ” . . . To my delight, Brian showed a keen interest in the mission and the science behind it. It was clear that he was not just a casual fan, but a true space enthusiast and an advocate for space exploration.”

May’s contribution was developing stereoscopic images of Bennu’s surface, May said in the book. Such images add “a depth effect to flat images.” The effect has been been compared to 3D glasses.

The crater targeted for samples – the Nightingale Crater – had a boulder at one edge but scientists were after deposits in the middle. It got them but weak gravity plus loose particles also meant dust and fragments flying around the crater, NASA said. Some landed in the OSIRIS-REx sample chamber and some landed elsewhere in the spacecraft.

All those samples made it to the Utah desert landing zone. OSIRIS-REx itself did a drop with no stop; it’s on the way to another asteroid. But the sample return by parachute, NASA’s first, was a big success with about 250 grams of material. About 60 grams were expected.

May wasn’t there; his regular job got in the way. “I’m rehearsing for a Queen tour, but my heart stays with you as this precious sample is recovered,” May said in a video on NASA TV Sept. 25.

The rock star scientist is excited by what may be in the sample box. “This box when it is opened of material from the surface of Bennu can tell us untold secrets of the origins of the universe, the origins of our planet and the origins of life itself,” May said on his website. “What an incredibly exciting day.”