John Lindsay, an astrobiologist who worked on NASA's Apollo Lunar program, died in Texas in June. Lindsay had published almost 200 scientific papers, written the only textbook on lunar stratigraphy and had been recently commissioned to write a textbook on the origins of early life based on his astrobiology research. He was often invited to speak at conferences around the world, and was to speak in Florence this month.
John Francis Lindsay was born in Gosford on the January 22, 1941, the oldest of four boys to Dorothy and Albert Lindsay, and had very humble beginnings, growing up in a small farming community on the Central Coast of NSW.
Lindsay began school at the local Avoca Beach Primary School in 1946, joining the other nine pupils at the school, eventually becoming the first pupil of the tiny school to graduate from university.
In 1953, he began secondary schooling at Gosford High School where he spent the next five years, by all accounts doing very well both academically and athletically.
After graduating from secondary school in 1957, Lindsay was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship and attended the University of New England at Armidale where he completed an honours degree and then a masters degree in Geology. In 1959 he met his beloved Kay who was studying zoology.
In 1964 Lindsay headed to the United States to study at Ohio State University, and as part of his studies completed a mission to Antarctica in 1966-67.
He was awarded a PhD by the Ohio State University in 1968.
Over the next year Lindsay was a research associate with the Institute of Polar studies at Ohio State University. In 1969 he became a postdoctoral resident research associate with the NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre in Houston, Texas, and later became staff scientist with the Lunar Science Institute in Houston where he remained until 1972.
During this period Lindsay provided scientific training for the Apollo astronauts and studied the lunar samples as they were returned to Earth.
In 1972 Lindsay returned to Antarctica when he led a mission to study landforms as part of the initial preparation for the future Viking Mars landings.
Lindsay was subsequently awarded the NASA Achievement Award in 1973 for work on the Apollo Lunar Program and the US Polar Medal for Antarctic Service in 1974. Just before Lindsay left NASA he had been accepted into the astronaut training program.
After a short spell at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Lindsay returned to the US in 1974 as a research scientist with the Marine Science Institute at the University of Texas in Galveston and he was also a visiting scientist with the Lunar Science Institute in Houston. Lindsay moved from Galveston to Houston in 1978, when he joined the Exxon Production Research Company.
After being approached by the then Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia), Lindsay and Kay decided to return to Australia in 1984 with their new son Matthew, and Lindsay became a senior principal research scientist in Canberra. Apart from a year as an exchange scientist with the British Geological Survey in Britain in 1988-89, Lindsay, Kay and Matthew called Canberra home for the next 17 years.
Lindsay's work saw him leading many field trips throughout central Australia and constantly publishing scientific papers. In 1994 he was awarded the Australian Institute of Cartographers' award for his work on the Amadeus Basin in central Australia.
Lindsay left Geoscience Australia in 1999 in unhappy circumstances, taking up a role as visiting fellow with the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University that allowed him to complete work he had started at Geoscience Australia and pursue consulting work.
At this time Lindsay also became an adjunct professor with the Earth Sciences Department of Oxford University, a position he held until his death.
In 1999 Kay, Lindsay's wife of 35 years, was diagnosed with cancer and, despite a determined battle, died in 2001.
In 2002 he again left the Australian scientific scene and returned to the type of work he most loved, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston where he was respected and his scientific knowledge appreciated and sought.
Much of Lindsay's research there was associated with the planning of NASA's manned Mars expeditions and the recognition and identification of early life forms.
He was also researching lunar dust as part of NASA's planned return to the moon.
Lindsay's aim was to see out his career in Houston before retiring in Canberra at the end of 2009.
In 2003 disaster hit again when the Canberra bushfires destroyed Lindsay's home. Luckily, however, all of his possessions were in storage.
Lindsay had just about overcome the aftermath of the fires and had rebuilt his home ready for his retirement when he was diagnosed with melanoma in late 2006. He underwent some horrific treatment with only limited success and it looked like the cancer was winning. However, it was not the cancer that led to his death but a secondary infection he acquired while in hospital in Houston that could not be controlled with antibiotics.
The Lunar and Planetary Institute accorded Lindsay the great honour of holding a memorial service for him on July 1.
The service was attended by more than 100 co-workers and friends, mainly from the scientific community and Lindsay was honoured by many speakers, including the head of the institute, Steve Mackwell, Australian astronaut Andy Thomas, friends and family.
The regard in which Lindsay was held around the world has overwhelmed his family.
Lindsay is survived by Matthew and his younger brothers, Phillip, Grahame and David.
An informal memorial service/afternoon tea will be held at University House, ANU, 1Balmain Crescent Acton on August 23 at 3pm. All are welcome.