Kevin Beurle

Dr Kevin Beurle (19 January 1956 – 29 May 2009) was a British space scientist and programmer at Queen Mary, University of London, who played a key role in the Cassini–Huygens mission to study Saturn and its moons. He was a specialist in space imaging systems. He was the lead Cassini programmer at QMUL, developing software and designing the spacecraft's observation sequences.[1][2][3]

Life

Beurle had one daughter, Angharad, born in 1983, and was a fifth-generation vegetarian.[4] He was a keen scuba diver [5] amongst other water sports. He began formal diving training in 1997 and trained up to the level of PADI Staff Instructor by the time of his death. He was also an enthusiastic mountaineer and skier.

In 2005, Beurle was on the Oval train during the failed 21 July 2005 London bombings.[6]

Death

Beurle died on 29 May 2009 when the hot-air balloon he was riding in collided with another and plummeted 50 m (160 ft) to the ground shortly after take-off in Cappadocia, Turkey.[7][8] He was the only fatality, though others suffered severe and, in one case, critical injuries.

References
  1. Kevin Beurle Archived 5 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine QMUL profile
  2. Dr. Kevin Beurle QMUL profile (2)
  3. Tributes To Hot Air Balloon Crash Victim SkyNews
  4. Generating Vegetarians Archived 8 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Vegetarian Society
  5. Big Squid Team Page Archived 30 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine Big Squid
  6. BBC Have your Say London Tube Incidents BBC News
  7. British space scientist Kevin Beurle dies after hot air balloons collide in Turkey TimesOnline
  8. British tourist killed in hot air balloon crash in Turkey Telegraph.co.uk


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