Colin Pillinger

British planetary scientist Colin Pillinger, best known for his 2003 attempt to land a spacecraft on Mars, has died aged 70, after suffering a brain haemorrhage, his family have said.

Dr David Parker, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, led the tributes. He told the BBC that Prof Pillinger had played a critical role in raising the profile of the British space programme and had inspired "young people to dream big dreams".

The Science Minister David Willetts called him a "delightful man and a free spirit". And added: "His vision of space exploration and his dedication to it inspired the nation."

Prof Mark Sims, the mission manager on the 2003 Beagle-2 probe, recalled: "Colin was a top-rate scientist. You might not have agreed with him but he always went for what he believed in. It was a privilege to have known him and worked with him, both as a friend and colleague."

Professor John Womersley, CEO STFC added; Colin’s name is forever linked with the Beagle 2 mission to Mars – an ambitious project that, while it failed to deliver the science we were aiming for, really did raise the profile of space science in the UK, putting the exploration of Mars firmly in the public eye and raising the aspirations of the UK space science community.

Colin was the public face of a team that accomplished a great deal in delivering a British Mars probe, against all odds. One colleague of mine has said that working with Colin at that time is much how she imagined working with Bob Geldoff during Band Aid to be – ‘no’ was simply not an acceptable answer and when faced with it, Colin always found a way.