 His research included analysis of moon rocks from NASA Apollo Programme and USSR Luna missions; hypervelocity impacts and 
specialised facilities; experiments during Giotto’s flyby of Halleys Comet; and interplanetary explorations by the Ulysses and Galileo probes.Together with Peter Tsou and Don Brownlee, he was the first to demonstrate the intact capture of space particulates in aerogel, the baseline technique used in the Stardust Mission.He has played a significant role in the UK framework and funding for the exploration of space, including the Rosetta, Stardust, 
Cassini/Huygens missions and the International Space Station facilities.