Frank Drake
Frank Drake | |
---|---|
Born | Frank Donald Drake May 28, 1930 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | September 2, 2022 Aptos, California, U.S. | (aged 92)
Alma mater | |
Known for | |
Spouses | Elizabeth Procter Bell
(m. 1952; div. 1976)Amahl Shakhashiri (m. 1978) |
Children | 5, including SETI |
Doctoral advisor | Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin |
Frank Donald Drake (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American
He began his career as a
Drake worked at the
Early life and education
Born on May 28, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois,
He enrolled at
Career
Drake began his research career as a
In April 1959, Drake obtained approval from the director Otto Struve of NRAO to begin Project Ozma, a search for extraterrestrial radio communications.[7] Initially, they agreed to keep the project secret, fearing public ridicule. However, Drake decided to publicize his project after Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison published a paper in Nature in September 1959, entitled "Searching for Interstellar Communications".[4][8] Drake began his Project Ozma observations in 1960, using the NRAO 26-meter radio telescope, by searching for possible signals from the star systems Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani. No extraterrestrial signals were detected and the project was terminated in July 1960. After learning about Project Ozma, Carl Sagan (then a graduate student) contacted Drake, initiating a lifelong collaboration between them.[7][4]
In 1961, Drake devised the
In 1963, Drake served as section chief of Lunar and Planetary Science at the
In 1972, Drake co-designed the Pioneer plaque with Carl Sagan and Linda Salzman Sagan. The plaque was the first physical message sent into space and intended to be understandable by any sufficiently technologically advanced extraterrestrial lifeforms that might intercept it.[11] In 1974, Drake wrote the Arecibo message, the first interstellar message transmitted deliberately from Earth.[12] He later served as technical director, with Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, in the development of the Voyager Golden Record, an improved version of the Pioneer plaque which also incorporated audio recordings.[10][13]
In 1984, Drake moved to the
On the subject of the search for the existence of extra-terrestrial life, Drake said: "[A]s far as I know, the most fascinating, interesting thing you could find in the universe is not another kind of star or galaxy … but another kind of life."[17]
Personal life
Drake's hobbies included lapidary and the cultivation of orchids.[18]
He had five children, including science journalist Nadia Drake.[19][2]
Drake died on September 2, 2022, at his home in Aptos, California, from natural causes at the age of 92.[20][21]
Honors
- Asteroid 4772 Frankdrake is named after him.[22]
- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1972 [23]
- Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1974.[24]
- 2001 Drake award from the SETI Institute [25]
- 2018 National Space Society's Space Pioneer Award for Science and Engineering [26]
See also
- Lick Observatory
- The Farthest, a 2017 documentary on the Voyager program
- The Search for Life: The Drake Equation
References
- ^ a b Physics Today 14 (4), 40–46 (1961). Drake, F. D. (April 1961). "Project Ozma". pubs.aip.org. American Institute of Physics. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
The question of the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in space has long fascinated people, but, until recently, has been properly left to the science‐fiction writers.
- ^ a b c d e "Frank Drake, pioneer in the search for alien life, dies at 92". Science. September 2, 2022. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022.
- ^ a b "Frank D. Drake 1930 – 2022".
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Frank Drake – Biography, Facts and Pictures".
- ^ "Personal Portrait: CECILIA PAYNE". Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
- ^ a b "Dr. Frank Drake". ISDC 2018.
- ^ a b c "Frank Donald Drake". Oxford Reference.
- S2CID 4220318.
- ^ "Drake Equation". September 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c Stephens, Tim. "Pioneering radio astronomer Frank Drake dies at 92". UC Santa Cruz News.
- PMID 17781060.
- Bibcode:1980CosSe...2....2D.
- ^ "Cornellians celebrate the Voyagers' historic Golden Record". Cornell Chronicle.
- ^ "Frank Drake".
- ^ University of California | Lick observatory www.ucolick.org retrieved 18:29 23 October 2011
- ^ "SETI Institute Names New Chief Alien Life Hunter". Space.com. June 14, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- S2CID 252310226.
- ISBN 9781617230066.
- ^ Broad, William J. (April 10, 1985). "EAVESDROPPERS LISTEN FOR COSMIC HELLO". The New York Times.
- ^ Overbye, Dennis (September 5, 2022). "Frank Drake, Who Led Search for Life on Other Planets, Dies at 92 – He was convinced that human beings would eventually connect with extraterrestrials, and he inspired others to share that belief". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Timmer, John (September 2, 2022). "Frank Drake, astronomer famed for contributions to SETI, has died". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "IAU Minor Planet Center". www.minorplanetcenter.net.
- ^ "Frank D. Drake". www.nasonline.org.
- ^ "Frank Donald Drake". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2023.
- ^ "Drake Award".
- ^ "National Space Society to Present Space Pioneer Award to SETI Astronomer Frank Drake". April 16, 2018.
External links
- Frank Drake's academic tree
- "Estimating the Chances of Life Out There" Archived October 27, 2020, at the NASA Ames Research Center.
- Frank Drake's 2010 article on "The Origin of the Drake Equation"
- "Finding Aliens 'Only a Matter of Time', Says Father of SETI" A Q&A with Frank Drake about his famous equation and the meaning of SETI, from an interview in February 2010, leading up to the 50th birthday of SETI
- "Estimating the Chances of Life Out There" on YouTubeA public talk by Frank Drake in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series
- 2012 Interview with Frank Drake looking back on his career
- 2014 closertotruth.com Interview with Frank Drake looking at the question of Intelligent E.T. and a Space based Radio Telescope
- "The Drake Equation" – Fraser Cain and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville professor, Dr. Pamela Gay, Monday February 12, 2007. (Full pdf transcript)
- Frank Drake at IMDb
- Frank Drake discography at Discogs