Colin Pillinger
| Colin Pillinger | |
|---|---|
At Jodrell Bank Observatory in 2009
|
|
| Born |
9 May 1943 Kingswood, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 7 May 2014 (aged 70) Cambridge, UK |
| Fields | Planetary science |
| Institutions |
Open University University of Cambridge |
| Alma mater | University College of Swansea |
| Known for |
Beagle 2 Mars lander Analyzing Apollo lunar samples |
| Notable awards | Michael Faraday Prize (2011) |
Colin Trevor Pillinger, CBE FRS FRAS FRGS (/ˈpɪlɪndʒər/; 9 May 1943 – 7 May 2014) was an English planetary scientist. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at Open University in Milton Keynes, he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and worked on a group of Martian meteorites.
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".
After graduating from University, Pillinger then became a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Earth Science at Cambridge University, 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.
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