Music & Mars

In September 2021, I had the great joy to join the Starmus convention in Yerevan, Armenia. I presented a 20-minute talk (in a beautiful, ancient arena) describing the present and coming eras of Mars exploration. But had we not be strictly limited on time I would have lobbied for 2 minutes to play a guitar intro!

In the festival’s own words, “Starmus is a global festival of science communication and art…combining art, music and science to enhance the science communication.”

Music, as can be seen throughout this website, is something I’ve been passionate about since I was very young. There was a turning point in college where I actually had to make a choice as to which field I would pursue professionally - science or music. I chose science first, but certainly have never lost touch with the creativity inherent and necessary in both fields.

Someone who has long exemplified (at international scale) the creative spirit of both fields is my colleague Brian May - most famous as the guitarist for legendary rock band Queen, which grew to acclaim while Brian was in the midst of earning is PhD in Astronomy. He’s balanced a career as both astrophysicist and rock star and was a presenter on both at the Starmus festival.

In this image, I snuck in a bit of fun on that enormous, ancient stage playing Brian’s guitar for sound check. (The guy next to me is Brian May's guitar tech, I think.)