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Tattooed British scientist on the Rosetta mission team has helped to land a space probe onto a comet, but he’s ended up at the centre of a backlash over his choice of CLOTHING.

Dr Matt Taylor first hit the headlines when he appeared on camera during the European Space Agency's livestream of the historic comet landing wearing shorts that showed off his many tattoos as well as a brightly-coloured shirt.

(Image: Twitter / @mggtTaylor)

However, up close the pattern on the shirt was actually a mosaic of semi-clad ladies brandishing guns, which critics labelled as sexist and reflective of a male-dominated culture in science and engineering.

During a Q&A session about the mission, Taylor broke down as he made an apology.

"The shirt I wore this week. I made a bit mistake and I offended many people, and I’m very sorry about this," the said.

His colleague Andrea Accomazzo then gave him a reassuring pat on the back before Taylor continued to talk about the results of the mission.

During the same press conference, the team expressed its fears that Philae's battery might run out before it can transmit the results of today's experiments.

Philae is drilling into the surface of the comet, but it's draining the lander’s precious battery life.

"We are hoping to get contact again this evening. This would be fantastic, but it’s not secured. Maybe the battery will be empty before we get contact again," explained European Space Agency scientist, Stephan Ulamec, in a Google Hangout.

The data needs to be transmitted to the Rosetta spacecraft that is still orbiting the comet, which can then send it back to Earth.

While we agree the shirt is ugly, we really hope this isn't what people remember Dr Matt Taylor for.