British Space Scientist Colin Pillinger has Died Aged 70

Professor Colin Pillinger is probably best know for his involvement in the ill fated 2003 Beagle 2 Mars mission but he was also a passionate advocate for British involvement in space exploration , I liked Professor Pillinger and send his family and friends my condolences for their (and our) sad loss .

The space scientist built a probe to search for Martian life, naming it Beagle 2 after Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle.

It was the first time an individual researcher had sent their own vessel into space.

The spacecraft vanished without trace but Prof Pillinger carried on pushing space agencies to complete what he called "unfinished business on Mars".

He was a professor in interplanetary science at the Open University, where he headed the Department of Physical Sciences until 2005.
www.bbc.co.uk...

Rest in Peace Prof Pillinger , one of a kind.

a reply to: gortex

Damn...

That fellow was a class act from the get go, and despite the ill fated landing attempt on Mars, was a personage whose opinions and thinking I really respect. He will be missed.

Does no one think it odd that he obtained more fom a large failure than he ever did through success. He was a professor, but the beagle 2 mission success lead him to get a CBE(commander british empire award) to become a fellow of the royal society and many, many other fellowships of many other societies. A lifetime of successes cannot measure up to a well publicized failure. It was the media that got him the things that people mention on the sad time of his death.

For instance surely him becoming a fellow of the royal society was more a political act, because Britains first attempt at a lander had to get him one or it would have looked bad: even if it was a dismal failure, and much the same can be said for his CBE. One has to wonder how many successful people get completely eclipsed by those chosen by the media.

In the reality TV of science the most worthy aren't always chosen for aclaim. In a way he was perfect: if you looked at him, he could have easily have dropped out of the big brother house with his strange type of facial hair. He was the scientist that most resembled a reality TV star in appearance and for this reason I think he will be missed more than anything else.