Colin Pillinger
At Jodrell Bank in 2009
Born	9 May 1943 (1943-05-09) (age 66) Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England
Nationality	British
Fields	Planetary science
Institutions	The Open University University of Cambridge
Alma mater	University College of Swansea
Known for	Beagle 2

Colin Trevor Pillinger, CBE, (born in Kingswood, just outside Bristol on 9 May 1943) is a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK. He was the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project,

In May 2005 Pillinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career and recognition 3 Beagle 2 4 Personal life 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 7.1 Video clips

[edit] Early life

Pillenger was born on 9 May 1943 in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, just outside Bristol, England, where he was brought up with his sister who was six years older.^[1] His father, Alfred, was a manual worker for the Gas Board and his mother, Florence (née Honour), was a housewife.^[1][2] He attended Kingswood Grammar School, and later graduated with a BSc and a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University College of Swansea (now called Swansea University).^[1]

[edit] Career and recognition

Chronology of qualifications, career, and awards:^[1]

• 1965 B.Sc (Chemistry) from University College of Swansea
• 1968 Ph.D (Chemistry) from University College of Swansea
• 1968 Post-doctoral fellow, University of Bristol Department of Chemistry
• 1972 Fellow, Cambridge University
• 1974 Research Associate, Cambridge University
• 1976 Senior Research Associate, Department of Earth Science, University of Cambridge
• 1981 Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
• 1981 member of the British Mass Spectrometry Society
• 1984 Honorary D.Sc (Chemistry) from University of Bristol
• 1984 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Earth Science, Open University
• 1986 Fellow of the Meteoritical Society
• 1991 made Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Open University
• 1993 member of the IAU
• 1993 Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
• 1993 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
• 1996 - 2000 Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in the City of London
• 2003 made a CBE

[edit] Beagle 2

Regarded as a world-class planetary scientist, Pillinger's first job was for NASA, analysing the lunar samples brought back by Apollo 11;^[2] but he is best known for being the principal investigator for the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, part of European Space Agency's (ESA) 2003 Mars Express mission. It was Pillinger's wife who thought of the "Beagle 2" name for the project.^[2] The reason for the failure of the mission has not been determined, but an ESA inquiry concluded that "... there were programmatic and organisational reasons that led to a significantly higher risk of Beagle 2 failure, than otherwise might have been the case."^{[citation needed]} However, Pillinger is adamant that the mission was not a failure.^[2]

[edit] Personal life

Pillinger's wife, Judith, is also a scientist and they met working in the same laboratory.^[2] They have a son and a daughter.^[1]

After experiencing difficulty with walking for two years, Pillinger was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis in May 2005.^[3] He had a dairy farm, but now he cannot do the physical work that he used to do, such as digging the garden and mucking out the cows.^[2] He owns a pet dog and appreciates the welcome and affection it gives.^[2]

[edit] See also

• Gresham Professor of Astronomy

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site.
• Beagle 2 - in conversation with Colin Pillinger from a talk at the Royal Society

[edit] Video clips

• Life on other planets

Persondata
NAME	Pillinger, Colin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professor of Planetary science
DATE OF BIRTH	1943-5-9
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH