Editing Drake equation (section)

==In popular culture==
[[File:Europa Clipper commemorative plate.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plate on [[Europa Clipper]]]]

The equation was cited by [[Gene Roddenberry]] as supporting the multiplicity of inhabited planets shown on ''[[Star Trek]]'', the television series he created. However, Roddenberry did not have the equation with him, and he was forced to "invent" it for his original proposal.<ref>''The Making of Star Trek'' by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, New York: Ballantine Books, 1968</ref> The invented equation created by Roddenberry is:

<math display="block">Ff^2 (MgE)-C^1 Ri^1 \cdot M=L/So </math>

Regarding Roddenberry's fictional version of the equation, Drake himself commented that a number raised to the first power is just the number itself.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Star Trek Encyclopedia]] |author=[[Michael Okuda|Okuda, Mike]] and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek |publisher=Pocket Books |page=122 |isbn=0-671-53609-5 |year=1999}}</ref>

A commemorative plate on NASA's [[Europa Clipper]] mission, which launched October 14, 2024, features a poem by the U.S. Poet Laureate [[Ada Limón]], waveforms of the word 'water' in 103 languages, a schematic of the [[water hole (radio)|water hole]], the Drake equation, and a portrait of planetary scientist [[Ron Greeley]] on it.<ref>{{cite web |title=NASA Unveils Design for Message Heading to Jupiter's Moon Europa |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-unveils-design-for-message-heading-to-jupiters-moon-europa |website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |access-date=11 March 2024}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

The track ''Abiogenesis'' on the [[Carbon Based Lifeforms]] album [[World of Sleepers]] features the Drake equation in a spoken voice-over.