Climate scientist and Nasa astronaut Piers Sellers dies aged 61

British-born Sellers, who featured in Leonardo DiCaprio's climate change film, lauded as 'a strident defender and eloquent spokesperson for our home planet'

Piers Sellers, a climate scientist and former astronaut who gained fame late in life for his eloquent commentary about the earth's fragility and his own cancer diagnosis, has died. He was 61.

British-born Sellers, who flew on three space shuttle missions between 2002 and 2010, died on Friday morning in Houston, Texas, of pancreatic cancer, Nasa said in a statement.