Frank Drake, a radio astronomer known for his pioneering efforts in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), died peacefully at his home in Aptos, California on Friday at the age of 92.
Sharing the celebratory news on her website, his daughter Nadia Drake wrote that her father “was loved by many and for many reasons, but most of all today I celebrate his humanity, his tenderness, his gentle spirit. A titan in life, Dad leaves a titanic absence.
The astronomer is best known for the “Drake Equation,” which he formulated in 1961 to estimate the number of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations that might be detectable in our galaxy, by considering increasingly unlikely factors from the average star formation rate to on the fraction of planets that develop intelligent life.
Drake also made his mark in 1974 when he created the first interstellar message ever intentionally sent into space from Earth, known as the “Arecibo Message”, which was transmitted over radio waves from Puerto Rico’s now-defunct Arecibo Observatory, that collapsed in 2020.
Drake is survived by his 40-year-old wife, Amahl Shakhashiri Drake, and their five children.
Frank Drake died Friday at the age of 92. His daughter Nadia (right) shared the heartbreaking news with the world. Frank pioneered the modern search for extraterrestrial life
“My husband Frank was a great person – I could really write pages about him, but maybe that’s a job for later. His professional greatness was well documented and public knowledge,” Amahl shared on Nadia’s website.
“When I was married to him I began to notice his greatness on a much smaller scale – how he treats his family, his gentleness, his kindness, his wit, his tenderness and most importantly his boyish love of life and how he exudes excitement to everyone around him.’
Born on May 28, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, Drake was the eldest of two children.
At the age of eight, he began to believe that human civilization arose accidentally and that, according to FamousScientists.org, there must be other life somewhere in the universe.
Born on May 28, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, Drake was the eldest of two children
Drake secured his first job at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, in April 1958, and two years later he launched “Project Ozma,” which was the first attempt to use radio transmissions to hunt extraterrestrials – although none were discovered Here he is in 1962
From there he set out to learn as much as he could, visiting science museums, conducting chemical experiments, and building radios.
At age 17, he received a Navy scholarship that enabled him to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he majored in physics engineering.
However, Drake was a sophomore in astronomy, and as he viewed Jupiter through a 15-inch telescope, he was amazed at the wonders of the beautiful moment – many who were close to him say it was a life-changing moment.
After graduating with honors in engineering physics, Drake decided to become an astronomer.
However, as part of the terms of his scholarship, he first had to complete his stint in the Navy, where he was tasked with managing electronics aboard the Albany, flagship of the Sixth Fleet.
Drake also made his mark in 1974 when he created the first interstellar message ever intentionally sent into space from Earth using the Arecibo observatory, which collapsed in 2020. He is pictured in front of the device before it crashed
After ending his military career, Drake attended Harvard University and fell in love with radio astronomy, believing it was the technology that would first discover or make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization.
After grad school, Drake secured his first job at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, in April 1958, and two years later he launched “Project Ozma,” which was the first attempt to use radio transmissions to hunt extraterrestrials – although none have been identified.
While there, Drake also found that Green Bank’s receiver could detect an equivalent radio telescope 12 light-years from Earth that could pick up signals from 30 star systems, including some with Sun-like stars.
Throughout his career, Drake worked to refine the methods of detecting signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. He had always hoped to find signs of life in his lifetime.
Drake continued to pursue his interest in the detection of extraterrestrial life and explored radio telescope designs that would optimize SETI’s chances of success.
