Colin Pillinger

Education and early life

Pillinger was born on 9 May 1943 in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, just outside Bristol. His father, Alfred, a manual worker for the Gas Board, and his mother, Florence (née Honour), also had a daughter who was six years older than Colin. He attended Kingswood Grammar School, and later graduated with a BSc and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University College of Swansea (now Swansea University). He said of himself, "I was a disaster as a science student".

Career and research

After graduating from University, Pillinger then became a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Earth Science at the University of Cambridge, and then a Senior Research Fellow at The Open University (1984–90). He became a Professor in Interplanetary Science at The Open University in 1991.

Pillinger's first job was working for NASA. He was involved in the Apollo space programme and ESA's Rosetta mission and analysed the lunar samples brought back by Apollo 11.

Between 1996 and 2000, Pillinger was made Gresham Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, a position once held by Sir Christopher Wren. Pillinger said of his appointment as Professor of Astronomy:

"As an organic chemist, turned geologist, turned astronomer who uses isotopic analyses to unravel the origins of life, our planet, the solar system and the stars, I hope I have something in common with the versatile men who were early Gresham Professors. The subjects which I research already enjoy popular interest; by combining them to produce a story of life told from the genealogy of its elements, my aim is to appeal to the widest possible audience, using an interdisciplinary approach to attempt to unravel the time-honoured puzzle, where do I come from?"

Pillinger is credited with inspiring many people to take an interest in space science, particularly in Britain. He was responsible for training and supporting a large number of experts in the field as well as helping to unite the space science and industrial communities in the UK. Pillinger worked as a conference and after-dinner speaker for the JLA agency.

In 2000, a main belt asteroid was named 15614 Pillinger after Colin Pillinger. In 2003, Pillinger was appointed a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Higher Education and to Science. Pillinger played a role in the Philae lander that was part of the Rosetta mission which successfully made its rendez-vous with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014. In particular he was an advocate of the idea of deploying the lander Philae to conduct scientific experiments in situ, and was instrumental in getting the Ptolemy device accepted as part of the science payload.

Beagle 2

Pillinger was the principal investigator for the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, part of European Space Agency's (ESA) 2003 Mars Express mission. Initially considered a failure, it has since come to light that the space craft did successfully touch down on the surface of Mars. The UK Space Agency on 16 January 2015 indicated that Beagle 2 had indeed reached the surface of Mars on 25 December 2003, but had failed to deploy fully. Images taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) identified clear evidence for the lander and convincing evidence for key entry and descent components on the surface of Mars within the expected landing area of Isidis Planitia (an impact basin close to the equator).

Recent research into photographs taken of the landing site by a Mars orbiter suggest that as many as three of the four solar panels may have been successfully opened. The reason why the lander failed to communicate back to Earth has not yet been determined.

When the lander was first considered 'lost' a number of possible explanations were given by David Southwood, ESA's Director of Science. The commission inquiring into the mission's apparent failure also apportioned blame towards Pillinger's management of the overall project as a contributing factor. In response, in his autobiography, Professor Pillinger highlighted a lack of support from key figures at ESA as a factor.

It was Pillinger's wife who thought of the Beagle 2 name for the project, based on Charles Darwin's ship the HMS Beagle.

Pillinger enlisted British rock band Blur to write a song to be Beagle 2's call sign back home. It was to be broadcast as soon as Beagle 2 began work on the surface of Mars. He also persuaded the artist Damien Hurst to provide a spot painting to use in calibrating the spacecraft's camera. At the outset of their involvement, Blur bassist Alex James remarked:

"The technology's there, the intelligence is there; the only thing not there is the funding. It's a million pounds a kilo to Mars. It's 1999: we should be building fucking spaceships but there's this inbuilt nihilistic vision of, 'What's the fucking point?' ... I can't think of anything better to do than send a spaceship to Mars. It's exciting. Damien's going to put some spots on the spaceship to calibrate it... And if Colin discovers evidence of life, it'll probably be the biggest discovery ever made. Isn't that brilliant?"

In 2014, a science destination for the Mars rover Opportunity on the western rim of Endeavour Crater was named Pillinger Point after Colin Pillinger, in commemoration of his enthusiasm for the Beagle 2 mission.

Pillinger in popular culture

Beagle 2 has been mentioned in Hollywood films Transformers: The Movie and Pillinger's work on asteroid impacts in Jurassic Park. A missing British Mars spacecraft was the subject of the 2005 Doctor Who Christmas Special. Pillinger appeared in Top Gear season 3 episode 7 and won a contest based on the best burnout. Beagle 2 featured in a science fiction story by Stephen Baxter and as one of the subject in The Backroom Boys by Frances Spufford.

Awards and honours

Chronology of qualifications, career, and awards:

Publications

Personal life

Pillinger's widow, Judith, is also a scientist. They met when working in the same laboratory and had two children, a son, Nicolas Joseph and a daughter, Shusanah Jane, who in 2015 became the first solo British woman to complete the Race Across America ultra-endurance cycle race. After experiencing difficulty with walking for two years, Pillinger was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis in May 2005. He owned a dairy farm, but towards the end of his life his illness prevented him from doing physical work on the farm. Pillinger died two days before his 71st birthday at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on 7 May 2014, after suffering a brain haemorrhage and falling into a coma.