British-born astronaut and environmental specialist, Piers Sellers, has died at the age of 61 from pancreatic cancer. Sellars was born in Crowborough, Sussex, England and was educated at Leeds and Edinburgh Universities. He became a naturalised US citizen in 1991 as he pursued his dream of becoming an US astronaut.
After working on biosphere science at NASA’s Goddard Space Center, this he achieved, joining the astronaut corps in 1996, later becoming a three time space veteran on Space Shuttle missions.
Sellers flew on STS-112 Atlantis in 2002, STS-121 Discovery in 2006 and STS-132 Atlantis in 2010, making six spacewalks in his career. After leaving NASA in 2011 he continued to campaign for the protection of the Earth environment. He was awarded an OBE in 2011 and was given the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 2016.
We give Piers Sellers our salute and our condolences to his family and friends.
