Editing Frank Drake

{{Short description|American astronomer and astrophysicist (1930–2022)}}
{{About||the Australian rugby league player|Frank Drake (rugby league)|the comic book character|Frank Drake (comics)|the 16th century naval commander|Francis Drake}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Frank Drake
| image             = Frank Drake at Cornell, October 2017 (cropped).jpg
| caption           = Drake speaking at [[Cornell University]] in 2017
| birth_name        = Frank Donald Drake
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1930|5|28}}
| birth_place       = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2022|9|2|1930|5|28}}
| death_place       = [[Aptos, California]], U.S.
| field             = [[Astronomy]], [[astrophysics]]
| work_institutions = [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], [[SETI Institute]], [[Cornell University]]
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Cornell University]]
* [[Harvard University]]
}}
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin]]
| doctoral_students =
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|

* [[Arecibo message]]
* [[Drake equation]]
* [[Pioneer plaque]]
* [[Project Ozma]]
* [[Voyager Golden Record]]
}}
| spouse            = {{Plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Elizabeth Procter Bell|1952|1976|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|Amahl Shakhashiri|1978}}
}}
| children          = 5, including [[Nadia Drake|Nadia]]
| influences        =
| influenced        =
| prizes            =
| footnotes         =
| signature         =
}}

'''Frank Donald Drake''' (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American [[astrophysicist]] and [[astrobiologist]].

He began his career as a [[radio astronomer]], studying the [[planets of the Solar System]] and later [[pulsar]]s. Drake expanded his interests to the [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] (SETI), beginning with [[Project Ozma]] in 1960, an attempt at [[extraterrestrial communication]]. He developed the [[Drake equation]],<ref name="Drake 1961">[[Physics Today]] 14 (4), 40–46 (1961). {{cite journal |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/14/4/40/422237/Project-Ozma |title=Project Ozma  |last=Drake |first=F. D. |date=April 1961  |journal=Physics Today |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=40–46 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |doi=10.1063/1.3057500 |bibcode=1961PhT....14d..40D |access-date=27 April 2023 |quote=The question of the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in space has long fascinated people, but, until recently, has been properly left to the science‐fiction writers.}}</ref> which attempts to quantify the number of intelligent lifeforms that could potentially be discovered. Working with [[Carl Sagan]], Drake helped to design the [[Pioneer plaque]], the first physical message flown beyond the Solar System, and was part of the team that developed the [[Voyager Golden Record]]. Drake designed and implemented the [[Arecibo message]] in 1974, an extraterrestrial radio transmission of astronomical and biological information about Earth. He is the father of Advanced SETI.

Drake worked at the [[National Radio Astronomy Observatory]], [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]], [[Cornell University]], [[University of California at Santa Cruz]], and the [[SETI Institute]].

== Early life and education ==
Born on May 28, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois,<ref name="natgeo">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/frank-drake-pioneer-in-the-search-for-alien-life-dies-at-92|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902222004/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/frank-drake-pioneer-in-the-search-for-alien-life-dies-at-92|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 2, 2022|title=Frank Drake, pioneer in the search for alien life, dies at 92|date=September 2, 2022|website=Science}}</ref> Drake showed an early interest in electronics and chemistry.<ref name="seti-obit">{{Cite web|url=https://www.seti.org/frank-d-drake-1930-2022|title=Frank D. Drake 1930 – 2022}}</ref> Drake first considered the possibility of [[life existing on other planets]] as an eight-year-old, after conjecturing that if human civilization was the result of chance then civilizations might also exist elsewhere in the universe.<ref name="famous-scientists">{{Cite web|url=https://www.famousscientists.org/frank-drake/|title=Frank Drake – Biography, Facts and Pictures}}</ref>

He enrolled at [[Cornell University]] on a [[NROTC|Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps]] scholarship.<ref name="natgeo"/> Once there he began studying astronomy. His ideas about the possibility of [[extraterrestrial life]] were reinforced by a lecture from astrophysicist [[Otto Struve]] in 1951.<ref name="famous-scientists"/> After receiving a B.A. in Engineering Physics, Drake served briefly as an electronics officer on the [[heavy cruiser]] [[USS Albany (CA-123)|USS ''Albany'']]. He then went on to graduate school at [[Harvard University]] from 1952 to 1955 where he received a M.S. and Ph.D. in Astronomy. His [[doctoral advisor]] was [[Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin]].<ref name=payne>{{cite web | title =Personal Portrait: CECILIA PAYNE | url =https://lydianz.com/personal-portrait-cecilia-payne/ | access-date =May 2, 2020 | archive-date =May 6, 2021 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210506050002/https://lydianz.com/personal-portrait-cecilia-payne/ | url-status =usurped }}</ref><ref name="natgeo"/>

== 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>

== Personal life ==
Drake's hobbies included [[lapidary]] and the cultivation of [[orchid]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Billings |first1=Lee |title=[[Five Billion Years of Solitude|Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars]] |date=October 3, 2013 |publisher=Current, a member of [[Penguin Group]] |location=New York |isbn=9781617230066 |edition=1st}}</ref>

He had five children, including science journalist [[Nadia Drake]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/10/garden/eavesdroppers-listen-for-cosmic-hello.html|title=EAVESDROPPERS LISTEN FOR COSMIC HELLO|first=William J.|last=Broad|newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 10, 1985}}</ref><ref name="natgeo"/>

Drake died on September 2, 2022, at his home in [[Aptos, California]], from natural causes at the age of 92.<ref name="NYT-20220905">{{cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |authorlink=Dennis Overbye |title=Frank Drake, Who Led Search for Life on Other Planets, Dies at 92 – He was convinced that human beings would eventually connect with extraterrestrials, and he inspired others to share that belief. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/science/space/frank-drake-dead.html |date=September 5, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=September 6, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Timmer | first=John | title=Frank Drake, astronomer famed for contributions to SETI, has died | website=Ars Technica | date=September 2, 2022 | url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/frank-drake-astronomer-famed-for-contributions-to-seti-has-died/ | access-date=September 2, 2022}}</ref>

== Honors ==
* Asteroid [[4772 Frankdrake]] is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=4772|title=IAU Minor Planet Center|website=www.minorplanetcenter.net}}</ref>
* Elected to the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in 1972 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/56214.html|title=Frank D. Drake|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* Elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/frank-donald-drake|title=Frank Donald Drake|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|date=February 9, 2023 }}</ref>
* 2001 [[Drake award]] from the SETI Institute <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seti.org/drake-award|title=Drake Award}}</ref>
* 2018 National Space Society's Space Pioneer Award for Science and Engineering <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/new/national-space-society-present-space-pioneer-award-seti-astronomer-frank-drake/|title=National Space Society to Present Space Pioneer Award to SETI Astronomer Frank Drake|date=April 16, 2018}}</ref>
* The Drake Lounge at the [[Green Bank Observatory]] is named after him <ref> {{Cite web|url=https://greenbankobservatory.org/green-bank-services/site-facilities/|title=SITE FACILITIES}} </ref>

== See also ==
* [[Lick Observatory]]
* ''[[The Farthest]]'', a 2017 documentary on the [[Voyager program]]
* ''[[The Search for Life: The Drake Equation]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}

* [https://academictree.org/astronomy/tree.php?pid=271519 Frank Drake's academic tree]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/events/2005/lectures/lecture-lifeoutthere.html "Estimating the Chances of Life Out There"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027013050/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/events/2005/lectures/lecture-lifeoutthere.html |date=October 27, 2020 }}{{snd}}brief biography for [[astrobiology]] workshop at the [[NASA Ames Research Center]].
* [https://astrosociety.org/file_download/inline/58ee6041-5f61-4f88-8b15-d2d3d22ab83d Frank Drake's 2010 article on "The Origin of the Drake Equation"]
* <span class="plainlinks">[https://medium.com/swlh/finding-aliens-only-a-matter-of-time-f51139d96efb "Finding Aliens 'Only a Matter of Time', Says Father of SETI"]</span> A Q&A with Frank Drake about his famous equation and the meaning of SETI, from an interview in February 2010, leading up to the 50th birthday of SETI
* <span class="plainlinks">{{YouTube|mucWk4zjSBU|"Estimating the Chances of Life Out There"}}</span> A public talk by Frank Drake in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPQz-kdaxNo 2012 Interview with Frank Drake looking back on his career]
* [https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/frank-drake/profile 2014 closertotruth.com Interview with Frank Drake looking at the question of Intelligent E.T. and a Space based Radio Telescope]
* <span class="plainlinks">[http://www.astronomycast.com/solar-system/episode-23-the-drake-equation/ "The Drake Equation"]</span>{{snd}}[[Astronomy Cast]] transcript (html), [[Fraser Cain]] and [[Southern Illinois University Edwardsville]] professor, [[Pamela L. Gay|Dr. Pamela Gay]], Monday February 12, 2007. (<span class="plainlinks">[http://www.astronomycast.com/transcripts/AstroCast-070212_transcript.pdf Full pdf transcript]</span>)
* {{IMDb name|2340884}}
* {{Discogs artist|Frank Drake (2)}}

{{University of California, Santa Cruz}}
{{Interstellar messages}}
{{Voyager program}}
{{Pioneer program}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Astronomy|Biography|Biology|Outer space|Science|Solar System|Stars|United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Frank}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American astronomers]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Interstellar messages]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Chicago]]
[[Category:Search for extraterrestrial intelligence]]
[[Category:Cornell University faculty]]
[[Category:21st-century American astronomers]]