Brian May recalls the speech that left him 'petrified' until Neil Armstrong told him 'You said the right thing'

Sir Brian May, 79, revealed that after daring to question space exploration in front of six Apollo moonwalkers in 2011, Neil Armstrong sought him out backstage to offer quiet vindication. May told the Starmus festival in the Canary Islands he had feared the pioneering astronauts would "hate" him for suggesting humanity had no right to spread into space given the state of Earth.

Armstrong was joined in the audience by Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt when May delivered his provocative speech.

May said he now wishes he could find 'a billionaire who was a decent human being', accusing the ultra-wealthy of 'fostering their own selfish interests while the world falls apart'.

He singled out Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk as emblematic of a shift in space exploration from 'a matter of nations and science' to private profit.