Frank Drake was the first scientist to use radio astronomy to search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Died: September 2, 2022 (Who else died on September 2?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in Aptos, California of natural causes at the age of 92.
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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Drake became excited about the possibility of extraterrestrial life as a child, and he studied astronomy in school. In the late 1950s, he began his work with radio astronomy, spearheading the effort to transform Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory into the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. There, he began using radio telescopes to listen for signals from nearby star systems. His first attempt, focused on Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani, was dubbed Project Ozma and is considered the first modern example of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). In 1961, Drake formulated the Drake Equation, which estimates the number of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. The Drake Equation is now considered one of the most famous formulas in scientific history. Drake also worked to transmit information about our civilization to the stars, including transmitting the Arecibo Message to the stars and co-designing the Voyager golden record and the Pioneer plaque alongside fellow astronomer Carl Sagan (1934–1996).
Notable quote
“Use the well-known equation and put in the parameters as we know them. A reasonable lifetime of civilizations is like 10,000 years, which is actually much more than we can justify with our own experience. It works out one in every 10 million stars will have a detectable signal. That’s the actual number. That means, to have a good chance to succeed, you have to look at a million stars at least — and not for 10 minutes — for at least days because the signal may vary in intensity. We haven’t come close to doing that. We just haven’t searched enough.” —source
Tributes to Frank Drake
Full obituary: The New York Times
