On Friday, astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake, 92, passed away peacefully at his California home, according to the family.
Drake is best known for his equation, which was the first significant attempt to estimate the probability of intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Presented in 1961, the Drake equation could determine the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy, using the frequency of exoplanets around stars and the probability of life emerging spontaneously.
Drake did his PhD in radio astronomy and has made several contributions to radio astronomy, he also served as the director of the Arecibo radio telescope facility.
During his career he helped craft two messages sent outside the Solar System, a plaque on Pioneer 10 and 11 and gold records placed on the Voyager probes.
