He can land a probe on a comet but can't park the car, says sister of Rosetta mission's tattooed poster boy scientist

 
Thumbs up: The probe was successfully landed on the comet
Benedict Moore-Bridger13 November 2014

The tattooed poster boy of the historic Rosetta mission may be able to help land a probe on a comet but he struggles to park a car, his family revealed today

Scientist Dr Matt Taylor, part of the team that landed a robot craft the size of a washing machine on a speeding comet, was today described as “brilliant” but lacking in “common sense”.

The 41-year-old father-of-two, originally from Manor Park in London, now lives in the Netherlands with his wife Leanne and two young children Lily, 13 and Harry, 11.

His sister Maxine, 39, said he was a genius but was sometimes “useless” as he suffers moments of indecision in daily life.

Colourful character: Physicist Dr Matt Taylor

She told the Standard: “He gets so involved in everything that sometimes common sense goes out the window - like losing the car in the car park, silly things.

“If you go out with him you end up going round and round looking for a car parking space...he doesn’t want to make decisions.”

His wife, whom he met in sixth-form and described as the most “beautiful and intelligent woman on the planet”, added: “He is terrible at following directions, and has lost cars in multistorey carparks many a time.”

It comes as it emerged the robot probe Philae was today “still alive” and sitting securely as it began beaming signals back to earth after initially failing to attach to the surface following its 4 billion-mile journey to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

“Critical” tests were continuing after the craft “bounced” up to a kilometre into the air before settling, but the European Space Agency said it was receiving a good signal and science data.

The first image beamed from the probe on the comet
ESA

Scientists hope the probe will now analyse the comet’s surface to yield insights into the origins of our Solar System as a brand new image of the craft on the comet was beamed back to mission control today.

The historic touchdown occurred yesterday afternoon, 25 years after planning for the mission first began.

Dr Taylor completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Liverpool University and then returned to the capital to complete his PhD at Imperial College London.

Dr Matt Taylor hugs a colleague after the mission landing was a success
AP Photo/ESA, J.Mai

He was studying the physics behind the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, before getting a top job on the mission last year.

He was reportedly told to cover his tattoos at media events in the past, but the unconventional scientist has been gathering something of a cult following after deciding to show off his extensive body art and colourful dress sense.

He was so convinced the mission would be a success he even had the moment of landing tattooed on his leg.

Maxine, a project manager from Kent, said the whole family, including their bricklayer father Graham, 68, and mother Christine, 69, were “immensely proud” of what he has done.

The surface of the comet pictured after the probe landed in an historic mission

She said: “He is just being himself. In fact, he’s probably even toned it down a little bit - one day he turned up to work with a red Mohican. Some people won’t like it but what is wonderful is he is being himself...he treats everybody the same.

“It is nice to make science cool. He has made it fun and interesting. People are probably watching because he is a bit of a character.”

She said her brother was a “wonderful guy” and totally devoted to his family.

“Without Leanne I don’t know where he’d be,” she added.

A cooking and fishing fanatic, Dr Taylor once had a death metal band called Septic Willies.

In an online mini-biography, he describes himself as “a Junglist/Death Metalist first, physicist second.”

He revealed he was once sick off the top of a Routemaster bus, helped a cow give birth, and wore a kilt to a country club “because they didn’t allow jeans”.

He has also fired guns and met Prince Andrew wearing flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt.

Despite being at the forefront of one of civilisation’s greatest achievements, the scientist revealed he was not bothered by the adulation and all he wanted to do was go home and see his family.

Writing on Twitter today, his daughter Lily said: “Dad! You’re famous! Haha how are you doing? Xx.”

He replied simply: “Just want to come home n see you lot xxxx.”

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