Eric Burgess

Eric Burgess (1920-2005) was a freelance consultant, lecturer and journalist. He is noted for his extensive published discussions on the Pioneer program of space missions, which he began to cover when the program tested its first rockets in 1957.

Career

In 1935 Burgess became a junior member of the Manchester Astronomical Society, a year later he founded the Manchester Interplanetary Society with its headquarters at his home in Manchester. The M.I.S. had seventeen members with an average age of a little over 17. Its aim was to study the new science of astronautics and rocketry. Burgess's exploits earned him the nickname "Rocket Man" in newspaper articles. He went on to promote national interest in astronautics and to describe, with incredible pre-perception and technical insight, space technology that we now take for granted.

During WWII Burgess was an instructor in radio communications in the Royal Air Force and helped analyze Germany's V-2 rocket program. Based in the Midlands, he printed and distributed a mimeographed journal that appeared every three months throughout the war. In 1944 Burgess and Arthur C. Clarke met at Warwick Castle, mid-way between their respective RAF bases, to discuss plans to start a national astronautical society. A year later, in September 1945, a joint meeting was called to wind up the old societies and transfer all interests, assets, etc. to the new British Interplanetary Society Ltd. Burgess was the first to sign the new member's register and he became its first Chairman of Council for the post-war season, 1945-1946, to be succeeded by Arthur C. Clarke in 1946. Clarke became the first B.I.S. president in 1947.

Honors

Burgess was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and British Interplanetary Society, and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A plaque honoring his efforts toward space exploration is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution. He is credited with the original idea that the Pioneer probes should carry a message for extraterrestrial intelligences. Together with Richard Hoagland, he approached Carl Sagan about his idea, which eventually resulted in the Pioneer plaque. NASA credits Burgess, along with Charles A. Cross, for the introduction of the term 'interplanetary probe', first described in a joint paper "The Martian Probe".