Colin Pillinger of NASA, ESA and later famed for leading the unsuccessful Mars Beagle mission died of a brain haemorrhage. Listening to him talk made space exploration so exciting again in an age of sending rockets into space is no longer the big thing it once was.

I listened to his Desert Island Discs interview not to long ago, he came across as a genuine, humble man who unfortunately outside of scientific and space communities seems to be remembered solely for the Mars Beagle mission. His biggest hope though was that through reading about his work that young minds might be interested in space and science and want to come into the field.

Met him at a conference my PhD supervisor hosted and did the slides for his presentation. Really nice guy, incredibly enthusiastic about his work and good communicator.

A true original and nice to hear a of somebody who came across in the media exactly as he was in person!

Awe, sad…

great man, great legacy

His radio 4 interview was great. He just loved taking things apart to see how they worked.its a shame the news has just focused on his sideburns and not his work.

Sad to hear this, he was a great enthusiast.