Editing Frank Drake (section)

== Career ==
Drake began his research career as a [[radio astronomer]], working at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory ([[NRAO]]) in [[Green Bank, West Virginia]] from 1958–63. At NRAO, he conducted research into radio emissions from the [[planets of the Solar System]]: using the radio telescope at Green Bank, Drake discovered the [[ionosphere]] and [[magnetosphere]] of [[Jupiter]], and observed the [[atmosphere of Venus]]. He also mapped the radio emission from the [[Galactic Center]].<ref name="famous-scientists"/><ref name="nss"/> Drake extended the capabilities of the under-construction [[Arecibo Observatory]] to allow it to be used for radio astronomy (it was originally designed purely for [[ionosphere|ionospheric physics]]).<ref name="nss">{{Cite web|url=http://isdc2018.nss.org/team-member/dr-frank-drake/|title=Dr. Frank Drake|website=ISDC 2018}}</ref>

In April 1959, Drake obtained approval from the director Otto Struve of NRAO to begin [[Project Ozma]], a search for extraterrestrial radio communications.<ref name="oxford-reference"/> Initially, they agreed to keep the project secret, fearing public ridicule. However, Drake decided to publicize his project after [[Giuseppe Cocconi]] and [[Philip Morrison]] published a paper in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in September 1959, entitled "Searching for Interstellar Communications".<ref name="famous-scientists"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ccocconi|first1=Giuseppe|last2=Morrison|first2=Philip|title=Searching for Interstellar Communications|journal=Nature|volume=184|pages=844–846|year=1959|issue=4690 |doi=10.1038/184844a0|bibcode=1959Natur.184..844C |s2cid=4220318 }}</ref> Drake began his Project Ozma observations in 1960, using the NRAO 26-meter radio telescope, by searching for possible signals from the star systems [[Tau Ceti]] and [[Epsilon Eridani]]. No extraterrestrial signals were detected and the project was terminated in July 1960. After learning about Project Ozma, [[Carl Sagan]] (then a graduate student) contacted Drake, initiating a lifelong collaboration between them.<ref name="oxford-reference"/><ref name="famous-scientists"/>

In 1961, Drake devised the [[Drake equation]], which attempted to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations that might be detectable in the [[Milky Way]].<ref name="Drake 1961" /><ref name="famous-scientists"/> The Drake equation has been described as the "second most-famous equation in science", after [[E=mc2|E=mc<sup>2</sup>]].<ref name="seti-drake-equation">{{Cite web|url=https://www.seti.org/drake-equation-index|title=Drake Equation|date=September 29, 2023 }}</ref>

In 1963, Drake served as section chief of Lunar and Planetary Science at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]. He returned to Cornell in 1964, this time as a member of the [[faculty (academic staff)]], where he would spend the next two decades. He was promoted to Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy in 1976.<ref name="famous-scientists"/><ref name="oxford-reference">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095730566|title=Frank Donald Drake|website=Oxford Reference}}</ref><ref name="ucsc-obit">{{Cite web|url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2022/09/frank-drake-in-memoriam.html|title=Pioneering radio astronomer Frank Drake dies at 92|first=Tim|last=Stephens|website=UC Santa Cruz News|date=September 2, 2022 }}</ref> Drake served as associate director of the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research{{when|date=September 2022}}, as director of the Arecibo Observatory from 1966 to 1968, and as director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC, which includes the Arecibo facility), from its establishment in 1971 to 1981.<ref name="ucsc-obit"/>

In 1972, Drake co-designed the [[Pioneer plaque]] with Carl Sagan and [[Linda Salzman Sagan]]. The plaque was the first physical message sent into space and intended to be understandable by any sufficiently technologically advanced extraterrestrial lifeforms that might intercept it.<ref name=pioneer>{{cite journal |last1=Sagan |first1=Carl |last2=Sagan |first2=Linda Salzman |last3=Drake |first3=Frank |title=A Message from Earth |journal=Science |date=February 25, 1972 |volume=175 |issue=4024 |pages=881–884 |doi=10.1126/science.175.4024.881 |pmid=17781060 |bibcode=1972Sci...175..881S }}</ref> In 1974, Drake wrote the [[Arecibo message]], the first interstellar message transmitted deliberately from Earth.<ref name="Arecibo">{{cite journal |last=David |first=Leonard |title=Putting Our Best Signal Forward |journal=Cosmic Search |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=2–7 |date=Summer 1980 |url=http://bigear.org/CSMO/HTML/CS07/cs07p02.htm|bibcode = 1980CosSe...2....2D }}</ref> He later served as technical director, with Carl Sagan and [[Ann Druyan]], in the development of the [[Voyager Golden Record]], an improved version of the Pioneer plaque which also incorporated audio recordings.<ref name=ucsc-obit/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/10/cornellians-celebrate-voyagers-historic-golden-record|title=Cornellians celebrate the Voyagers' historic Golden Record|website=Cornell Chronicle}}</ref>

In 1984, Drake moved to the [[University of California at Santa Cruz]] (UCSC), becoming their [[dean (university)#United States|Dean of Natural Science]]. The non-profit [[SETI Institute]] was founded the same year, with Drake as president of its board of trustees. Drake left his role as dean in 1988, but remained a professor at UCSC while also becoming director of the SETI Institute's [[Carl Sagan Center]].<ref name="natgeo"/><ref name="seti-obit"/> Drake was President of the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] from 1988 to 1990. From 1989 to 1992, he was chairman of the Board of Physics and Astronomy for the [[National Research Council (United States)|National Research Council]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seti.org/frank-drake|title=Frank Drake}}</ref> He retired from teaching in 1996 but remained emeritus professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC.<ref name="uco-bio">[http://www.ucolick.org/~board/faculty/drake.html University of California | Lick observatory www.ucolick.org] retrieved 18:29 23 October 2011</ref> In 2010, Drake stepped down as director of The Carl Sagan Center but continued to serve on the SETI Institute's board of trustees.<ref name="famous-scientists"/><ref>{{cite web | title =SETI Institute Names New Chief Alien Life Hunter | date = June 14, 2010| publisher = [[Space.com]]| url = http://www.space.com/8597-seti-institute-names-chief-alien-life-hunter.html | access-date = February 23, 2012}}</ref>

On the subject of the search for the existence of extra-terrestrial life, Drake said: "[A]s far as I know, the most fascinating, interesting thing you could find in the universe is not another kind of star or galaxy … but another kind of life."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scoles |first=Sarah |date=2022-09-15 |title=Frank Drake (1930–2022) |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=609 |issue=7928 |pages=672 |doi=10.1038/d41586-022-02962-8|pmid=36109616 |bibcode=2022Natur.609..672S |s2cid=252310226 |doi-access=free }}</ref>