Gaia People

William O'Mullane

European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)

William O'Mullane began his career in space science in 1993 when he joined ESOC as a Young Graduate Trainee working on the SCOSII system. In 1996 he moved to ESTEC to assist with the production of the Hipparcos CDROMS. During this period he was also involved with the Planck and Integral science ground segments as well as contemplating the Gaia data processing problem. From 2000-2005 Wil worked on developing the US National Virtual Observatory (NVO) and on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in Baltimore, USA. In August 2005 he rejoined ESA as Gaia Science Operations Development Manager to lead the ESAC development effort for the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. Having seen Gaia through launch and into regular operations as Mission Manager he has now taken over the Science Operations Development Division with responsibility for development of the science operations centres for all upcoming ESA space science missions.

When not computing William enjoys motorbikes, Salsa and taking photos which may be seen on his personal Flickr page.

Photo: Wil with the Gaia Soyuz in Kourou

[Published: 23/01/2006 | Updated: 26/01/2015]