Drake , Frank Donald

Drake , Frank Donald
(1930–) American astronomer
Drake, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, graduated in 1952 from Cornell University and obtained his PhD in 1958 from Harvard. He worked initially at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), West Virginia (1958–63) and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California (1963–64) before returning to Cornell and serving as professor of astronomy from 1964. He was appointed professor of astronomy at the University of California in 1984.
Although Drake has made significant contributions to radio astronomy, including radio studies of the planets, he is perhaps best known for his pioneering search for extraterrestrial intelligence. In April 1959 he managed to gain approval from the director at NRAO, Otto Struve, to proceed with his search, which was called ‘Project Ozma’. The name was taken from the Oz stories of Frank Baum. Drake began in 1960, using the NRAO 26-meter radio telescope to listen for possible signals from planets of the Sunlike stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani, both about 11 light-years away. He decided to tune to the frequency of 1420 megahertz at which radio emission from hydrogen occurs. This would have considerable significance for any civilization capable of building radio transmitters.
No signals were received although at one time excitement was generated when signals from a secret military radar establishment were received while the antenna was pointed at Epsilon Eridani. In July 1960 the project was terminated to allow the telescope to fulfill some of its other obligations. Drake revived the project in 1975, in collaboration with Carl Sagan, when they began using the Arecibo 1000-foot (305-meter) radio telescope to listen to several nearby galaxies on frequencies of 1420, 1653, and 2380 megahertz. No contact was made nor was it likely, they declared, for “A search of hundreds of thousands of stars in the hope of detecting one message would require remarkable dedication and would probably take several decades.” He has published a number of works on this issue including Is Anyone There? The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (1992).

Scientists. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Drake — Drake,   1) [dreɪk], Sir (seit 1580) Francis, englischer Admiral und Seeheld, * Crowndale (bei Plymouth) um 1540/43, ✝ vor Portobelo 28. 1. 1596; unternahm als Freibeuter Fahrten nach Guinea, seit 1567 nach Westindien, umsegelte die Erde auf… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Drake equation — This article is about Frank Drake s equation. For the Tub Ring music album, see Drake Equation (album). The Drake equation (sometimes called the Green Bank equation or the Green Bank Formula) is an equation used to estimate the number of… …   Wikipedia

  • Frank Drake — Infobox Scientist name = Frank Drake box width = image width =150px caption = Frank Drake birth date = May 28 1930 birth place = Chicago death date = death place = residence = citizenship = nationality = American ethnicity = field = Astronomy… …   Wikipedia

  • Frank Welker — Données clés Nom de naissance Franklin Wendell Welker Naissance 12 mars 1946 (1946 03 12) (65 ans) Denver, Colorado Nationalité …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Robert Donald Blue — (* 24. September 1898 in Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa; † 13. Dezember 1989 in Fort Dodge, Iowa) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und von 1945 bis 1949 der 30. Gouverneur des Bundesstaates Iowa. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Frühe Jahre …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Дрейк, Фрэнк Дональд — Фрэнк Дональд Дрейк Frank Donald Drake Дата рождения …   Википедия

  • Mickey Mouse Works — Also known as Disney s Mickey Mouse Works Format Animated series Created by …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Dr — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste der Söhne und Töchter der Stadt Chicago — A Emma Abbott, Opernsängerin Max Abramovitz, Architekt Muhal Richard Abrams, Jazzmusiker und Komponist Paul Adelstein, Schauspieler Bruce Alberts, Biochemiker und Präsident der National Academy of Sciences Saul Alinsky, Community Organizer und B …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of Australian generals and brigadiers — This list is believed to be complete for people who ranked Brigadier or higher during World War II. It is not complete for other periods please add to it if you know of any ommissions. A Archibald Robert Allen Arthur Samuel Allen Robert Anderson… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”