OBITUARY

Brian O'Brien died on 08/07/2020.

Professor Brian O’Brien AO FTSE was an influential physicist whose historic lunar dust experiments were aboard Apollo 11.

Born in 1934, he completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Sydney in 1957. Seeing the dazzling beauty of the Aurora Australis while working in Antarctica inspired him to pursue a career in space research.

In the 1960s he worked as a Professor of Space Science at Rice University in Houston, making major discoveries about solar-terrestrial relations.

A NASA principal investigator at the thrilling height of the space race, Professor O’Brien worked closely with astronauts including Buzz Aldrin. Five of his experiments were taken to the moon itself. His historic work on lunar dust revealed the dangers it posed to scientific equipment and made moon research safer and easier.

An early advocate of the need to address climate change, Professor O’Brien headed the WA Environmental Protection Authority from 1971-1978. He later persuaded the WA Government to commit $1.7 million of funding to the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative.

In 1978 he and his wife Dr Avril O’Brien (nee Searle), a heritage expert and polymath, established an environmental and strategic consultancy which worked on a wide range of issues.

Professor O’Brien was elected a Fellow in 1993 and was an active member of the WA Division. In 2009 he became an Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Western Australia.

Listed in Who’s Who in the World, his honours include the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (the first Australian to receive this honour), the Centennial Medal, and a recent Order of Australia.

He continued his internationally significant space research well into his eighties, and played an enthusiastic role in the 50-year celebration of the Apollo 11 mission.

Brian died on 7 August 2020, aged 86. He and Avril had four children, nine grandchildren, and two great grand- children.