Red Planet Scientist Battles MS

[zavvy]

Not sure if this should go in Human Biology but it's related to the Beagle mission. I wouldn't be surprised if the stress of that brought this on...<br /><br /><b>Red Planet Scientist Battles MS </b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />The scientist who led Britain's Beagle 2 mission to Mars has told BBC News he has multiple sclerosis (MS). <br /><br />Professor Colin Pillinger, from the Open University, said he had been diagnosed with a progressive form of the neurological condition in May. <br /><br />The planetary scientist underwent tests after having difficulty walking for the past two years. <br /><br />He now uses crutches when he is away from the security of his home or Milton Keynes laboratory. <br /><br />"I've found it increasingly difficult to walk," he said. "Some people have told me they were diagnosed and nothing else happened after that. For me, it has got worse. You just have to wait and see." <br /><br />Persuasive stance <br /><br />Beagle 2, a robot designed to search for life, should have landed on Mars in 2003 but vanished without trace. <br /><br />The last anyone saw of it was in an image snapped from the Mars Express mothership as it hurled its baby towards the Red Planet. <br /><br />Since the disappointment, Professor Pillinger has been working to persuade space agencies to take a follow-up mission back to Mars. <br /><br />He told me his condition would not affect his efforts to get British technology back on the surface of the fourth planet. <br /><br />"The work is mostly about meetings and I can always reach you with a crutch if I need to prod you, you see!" <br /><br />Professor Pillinger then gleefully demonstrated the various uses of his new "bargaining tool" on me. It graphically illustrated that he has lost neither his sense of fun nor fire. <br /><br />"Unfinished business" <br /><br />He submitted his latest plans to explore Mars to the European Space Agency in April, and has also asked t