Vale David Willson (MSA Vice-President)

MSA is very sad to announce that MSA Vice-President David Willson passed away yesterday evening in the presence of family and friends after struggling with cancer for a bit over a year. This is a great loss to us all and those who know him mourn the passing of a dear friend and great colleague.

David joined MSA in 2003 after encountering our web page. At that time he was a senior project engineer with the Hobart-based consultancy firm SEMF and had considerable experience in design and management of multi-million dollar construction, including ship loaders, mine metallurgical plants, and power. In his spare time he built liquid fuelled rocket engines, helped his parents in their tin mine in south west Tasmania, and flew light aircraft. David brought all these skills to MSA and led to him become project manager for the Mars Oz analogue station. This culminated in the building of a full-sized model of a segment of the station in 2016 that validated the structural design. David was not just good in theory, he had considerable practical skills with tools and fabrication.

In 2009 David took on a position at NASA Ames Research Center in California. David worked on many projects at Ames, including Red Dragon (possible payloads to be spent to Mars using the Dragon spacecraft) and the Icebreaker mission to sample subsurface ice on Mars. He continued working on space suit and habitat design in collaboration with the University of North Dakota and sample scoops and dust collection devices for future missions to Mars and Enceladus. David’s fingerprints are all over many projects that will end up in the furthest reaches of the solar system.

David was a practical engineer and believed strongly in the importance of field testing of equipment and the role of analogue research in preparing for Mars. He took part in four rotations to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah – crews 104, 112, and 123, and on the 2004 MSA expedition to Arkaroola (Expedition Two). David was also strongly committed to education and outreach, playing a role in Spaceward Bound expedition to central Australia (2009), the Pilbara (2011), New Zealand (2015) and Boulby Mine UK (2017). Not only did he contribute to the education and outreach programs on these expeditions, David also used the opportunities to test a range of space-relevant technologies.

Of course this is but a small part of David’s interests and character. His love for Tasmania, his ability to gently disagree and correct error, and his fondness for cats all come to mind. He was very proud of his children and grandchildren, and very loyal to his friends. As a colleague he never pushed himself forward or hogged the limelight, but was characterised in all his dealings by honesty and integrity. His gentleness, wisdom, and good humour were outstanding characteristics and will remain long in our memories.

Vale David, and we thank you

Jonathan Clarke on behalf of the MSA board