Mike Cruise
Mike Cruise | |
|---|---|
Cruise in 2019 | |
| Born | 12 May 1947 |
| Died | 7 February 2026 (aged 78) |
| Alma mater | University College London (BSc, PhD)[3] |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | X-ray astronomy, spacecraft instrumentation, gravitational-wave detectors |
| Institutions | University of Birmingham; Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Mullard Space Science Laboratory |
Adrian Michael Cruise OBE FRAS (12 May 1947 – 7 February 2026[4]) was a British astronomer and astrophysicist. Initially an X-ray astronomer, he also worked on instrumentation for space missions at other wavelengths. In his later career, he worked on the design and operation of gravitational wave detectors.[3][5]
Cruise held positions at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and University of Birmingham. He was President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2018 to 2020.[3][5] In 2024, he received an OBE for services to space science.[1]
Early life and education
Cruise was born on 12 May 1947.[6] He obtained his BSc from University College London (UCL).[3] His PhD was at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), where he worked on instrumentation for X-ray astronomy under the supervision of Peter Willmore.[3][7] His PhD thesis analysed X-ray observations collected during three Skylark launches (a sounding rocket); the doctorate was awarded in 1973.[7]
Career
Cruise remained at MSSL as a staff researcher; from 1985–1986 he briefly served as its Deputy Director.[5][3] He then moved to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, initially as the head of its Astrophysics Group and later as its Associate Director for Space.[3]
In 1995 he was appointed professor at the University of Birmingham, where he later spent five years as Head of School and then five years as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer.[5][3] He formally retired from Birmingham in 2012 but remained an honorary professor (emeritus status).[5]
Cruise was heavily involved in the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), serving as a council member, secretary, treasurer, vice president and was President of the RAS from 2018–2020.[3][5] From 2003–2008 he was on the board of directors for the Thinktank, Birmingham science museum.[8]
In 2011, as part of a collaboration with the Office of Astronomy for Development, Cruise assisted in the production of the first school astronomy textbook in the Pashto language, to support education in Afghanistan.[9]
Research
Cruise developed spacecraft instrumentation, initially for X-ray astronomy, contributing to X-ray space telescopes including Ariel V, Ariel VI, ROSAT, XMM-Newton and Spektr-RG.[5] He later worked on instruments for space telescopes at other wavelengths, particularly those of the European Space Agency, including Hipparcos, SOHO and STEREO.[5]
In his later career, Cruise became involved in gravitational wave research, particularly gravitational wave detectors that could operate at high frequency.[5] He proposed a new type of detector that would be sensitive to gravitational waves at MHz frequencies,[10][11] and built several prototypes of such instruments in his laboratory at Birmingham.[5][12] Cruise was part of the team that set the first experimental upper limits on gravitational waves at THz frequencies.[13]
He was a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration, and obtained grant funding for the UK's contribution to the Advanced LIGO instrument.[14] His work led to UK involvement in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission[3] and he helped design and build instruments on its precursor LISA Pathfinder.[5][15]
Honours and recognition
In 2016, Cruise was one of approximately 1000 authors listed on the paper announcing the first observation of gravitational waves.[16] All members of that team were jointly awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and the Gruber Prize in Cosmology later that year.[3]
Cruise was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to space sciences.[1][2]
References
- ^ a b c "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N12.
- ^ a b "Awards for New Year 2024" (PDF). GOV.UK. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Tonkin, Sam (11 February 2026). "Professor Mike Cruise, OBE, 1947–2026". Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ "Tribute to Professor Mike Cruise". Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics. 12 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "University of Birmingham staff profile: Adrian (Mike) Cruise". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ "Cruise, Prof. Adrian Michael, (Mike), (born 12 May 1947), Professor of Astrophysics and Space Research, University of Birmingham, 1995–2012, now Emeritus; President, Royal Astronomical Society, 2018–20". Who's Who & Who Was Who 2026. Who's Who. A & C Black. 1 December 2024 [1 December 2019]. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b Cruise, A.M. (1973). Rocket studies of cosmic X-ray sources (PhD thesis). Bibcode:1973PhDT.......138C. Archived from the original on 2 February 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Adrian Michael CRUISE personal appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING 14 OCTOBER 2011 AT 1100 IN THE COUNCIL ROOM" (PDF). Royal Astronomical Society. 14 October 2011. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ^ Cruise, A. M. (7 July 2000). "An electromagnetic detector for very-high-frequency gravitational waves". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 17 (13): 2525–2530. Bibcode:2000CQGra..17.2525C. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/17/13/305.
- ^ Cruise, A. M.; Ingley, R. M. J. (21 May 2005). "A correlation detector for very high frequency gravitational waves". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 22 (10): S479–S481. Bibcode:2005CQGra..22S.479C. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/22/10/046.
- ^ Cruise, A. M.; Ingley, R. M. J. (21 November 2006). "A prototype gravitational wave detector for 100 MHz". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 23 (22): 6185–6193. Bibcode:2006CQGra..23.6185C. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/22/007.
- ^ Ejlli, A.; Ejlli, D.; Cruise, A. M.; Pisano, G.; Grote, H. (December 2019). "Upper limits on the amplitude of ultra-high-frequency gravitational waves from graviton to photon conversion". The European Physical Journal C. 79 (12). arXiv:1908.00232. Bibcode:2019EPJC...79.1032E. doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7542-5.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "Mike Cruise". The Conversation. 29 January 2016.
- ^ Robertson, D. I.; Fitzsimons, E. D.; Killow, C. J.; Perreur-Lloyd, M.; Ward, H.; Bryant, J.; Cruise, A. M.; Dixon, G.; Hoyland, D.; Smith, D.; Bogenstahl, J. (21 April 2013). "Construction and testing of the optical bench for LISA Pathfinder". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 30 (8) 085006. Bibcode:2013CQGra..30h5006R. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/30/8/085006.
- ^ Abbott, Benjamin P.; et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration) (2016). "Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger". Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 (6) 061102. arXiv:1602.03837. Bibcode:2016PhRvL.116f1102A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102. PMID 26918975. S2CID 124959784.
External links
- Mike Cruise at IMDb