The eminent radio astronomer Frank Drake, who became world famous for his pioneering research in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the “Drake equation” of the same name, which calculates the possible number of aliens, has died at the age of 92 at his home in California. galaxies in a number of ways.

It was a taboo subject that terrified astronomers and to this day continues to keep many at a distance from related research. Through his courage, Drake has inspired several determined scientists to take the matter more seriously. Today, thanks to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets, its important historical contribution is better understood. In a universe that is about 13.8 billion years old, it is likely that civilizations existed on other worlds.

Drake was a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and also served as president of the Institute for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) for 19 years. In 1961, while working at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in West Virginia and beginning the first organized study of radio signals from “intelligent” extraterrestrial sources (Project Ozma) from 1960, he presented his now famous equation since then it has become a framework report about research into the possibility of detecting aliens.

In addition to the equation, which was a theoretical construct (which went against the preconceptions of his colleagues, many of whom still discredit the search for aliens), throughout his career he worked to improve the technical methods of detecting radio signals from aliens. intelligence. He was also involved in the discovery of Jupiter’s radiation belts and was instrumental in the observations that led to the understanding of neutron stars (pulsars).

Drake created in 1974 the first interstellar message intentionally transmitted into space from Earth, known as the “Arecibo message” after the radio telescope of the same name. He was also involved with astronomer Carl Sagan and others in the development of the messages on the tablets placed on the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, as well as the corresponding golden message discs on Voyager 1 and 2 intended for extraterrestrials. another thing, as far as they understand …).

Drake was born in Chicago in 1930, studied physics at Cornell University in New York and received his PhD in astronomy from Harvard University. After working on the NRAO radio telescope and after directing the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico (1966-68), he worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) before becoming professor of astronomy at Cornell (1976) and then at the Univ. . California-Santa Cruz (1984-1996).

After his retirement, he tirelessly continued his research to detect extraterrestrial life through the development of a new type of radio telescope. He was a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

^{Source: RES-IPE}