John studied Physics at the University of Cambridge, followed by a PhD at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London.
Subsequently, he has had over thirty years experience of space research spanning a number of space missions, including sounding rockets, Earth-orbiting missions and interplanetary flights, at British Aerospace, the University of Kent and now the Open University. These have included a range of high profile space missions including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Giotto mission which flew past Halley’s comet and the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn & Titan.
He is a Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of a variety of national and international bodies in the field of Space Research. He is also the holder of awards from NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency) and inaugural winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Individual Achievement in UK Space Research in 2005.

He is currently involved in developing several instruments for possible future space missions to Mars, the Moon, Titan and Europa.