Geoffrey Keith Charles Pardoe attended and gained a BScEng from Loughborough of College of Technology and later gained a PhD in Astronautics from Loughborough University in 1984. From 1949-1951 he was Senior Aerodynamicist at Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, then part of Hawker Siddeley. He worked on rocket design and the Sea Slug (missile) (Britain's first guided missile). From 1951-19566 he was Chief Aerodynamicist at the Guided Weapons division of de Havilland Propellers, working on the De Havilland Firestreak. He worked on aerodynamics and flight analysis. De Havilland was given the Blue Streak ballistic missile project, and he was the Chief Co-Ordinator from 1956 until its cancellation in 1960. De Havilland merged with Hawker Siddeley in 1960, and he was the Chief Engineer of Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Weapons and Space Research division from 1960-1963. From 1963-1969 he was Chief Project Engineer of the company's Space Division. He was Managing Director from 1985-7 and Deputy Chairman from 1987-93 of Surrey Satellite Technology. During the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969, he was part of the television commentary team with Reg Turnill. He was chosen for this role as he was a good communicator. In 1986 he became Chairman of the Watt Committee on Energy. From 1984-1985 he was President of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was made OBE in 1988, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1968, and of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1988. From 1993 until his death in 1996 he was Director of the International Academy of Science.

The British Interplanetary Society (BIS) was founded in 1933 by a group of space flight enthuasiasts to promote and educate on the exploration and use of space for the benefit of humanity. In the years before World War II a technical core of BIS members made the first plans for a rocket capable of landing three men on the Moon and returning them to Earth. After World War II members of the Society developed ideas for the exploration of outer space including developing liquid rockets for launch into space, the construction of Space Stations, the human exploration of the Moon, the development of probes to investigate other planets in our Solar System and the use of space telescopes to observe distant stars and galaxies. In 1951 the BIS organized the world’s first International Congress on “The Artificial Satellite”, and became one of the founder members of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Earth Remote Sensing was initially advocated and studied at an international level at its NATO Conference in the 1950s, with space biology following soon afterwards. Planetary studies began with papers examining the propulsion requirements to reach Mars and Venus, as well as projected instruments for scientific probes. Advocacy of studies on comets and meteors helped further the Giotto mission to Halley’s Comet and later the ESA Rosetta mission. Studies and long term thinking on human spaceflight and launch vehicle development have always been a core area of activity amongst Society members, with the visionary early work on the BIS Lunar Lander, the Orbital Launcher and various other space launchers and space stations. With the demise of the Apollo Program in 1972, the British Interplanetary Society continued to encourage exploration of ideas on the possibilities of a return to the Moon and its eventual colonization. More recently a group within the Society has initiated a series of studies on the scientific and technical objectives of conducting a human exploration of the Martian North Polar Cap (Project Boreas), and another group within the Society has initiated a follow on study to the Daedalus Interstellar Starprobe, called Project Icarus.