Keith’s note: NASA sources report that John Billingham has passed away. John ran the SETI Program Office when NASA used to do SETI. He also ran life science at NASA Ames. John was one of the first people I met when I started to work at NASA’s Life Sciences Division in the 1980s. He was not your stereotypical NASA employee – his accent, background, and demeanor – were decidely old world mixed with a dose of California crazy. An M.D. and former RAF officer running NASA’s search for extraterrestrial intelligence? That sounds like something out of Dr. Who. That was John – he was always a hoot to be around and will be missed.
John Billingham, SETI Institute
“Captivated by the prospect of detecting sentient beings elsewhere in the cosmos, Billingham joined with Barney Oliver – then director of research and development at the Hewlett Packard corporation – to organize a joint summer design study of the technology and science of SETI. Two dozen academics spent three months considering what sort of equipment was needed to make a serious, systematic search for signals, and where they should point the antennas. Their conclusions, published as “Project Cyclops,” became the bible of SETI research for decades to come, and are still important today.”
There’s a nice obit about Mr. Billingham here:
http://www.centauri-dreams….
As a Postdoc at Ames, I was asked by Hans Mark to participate in the Project Cyclops study to bring in astrophysics and planetary science. That is where the seeds of the current effort to search for other planetary systems got sown. Working with John on that, and many other efforts beyond that, was a pleasure and an honor. John was a special person, one with great dignity and integrity, coupled with a drive that was seldom apparent on the surface, but burned within.
He will be missed.