Mike Cruise, a British astronomer and astrophysicist, died on February 7, 2026, aged 78.
Born Adrian Michael Cruise on May 12, 1947, he began his career as an X-ray astronomer and later worked on instrumentation for space missions at other wavelengths. In his later work, he was involved in the design and operation of gravitational wave detectors.
He held positions at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the University of Birmingham. Cruise served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2018 to 2020 and received an OBE in 2024 for services to space science.
Adrian Michael Cruise OBE FRAS (12 May 1947 – 7 February 2026) was a British astronomer and astrophysicist. Initially an X-ray astronomer, he also worked on instrumentation for space missions at other wavelengths. In his later career, he worked on the design and operation of gravitational wave detectors.