James Van Allen, discovered Van Allen belts, 91
Posted: Wednesday, August 9th, 2006 6:59 pm
Dr. James Van Allen, the Iowa-born space pioneer, died today at the age of 91.
Van Allen, a University of Iowa professor, was renowned in the scientific and academic communities. His use of instruments carried aboard the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958 to discover bands of intense radiation surrounding the Earth — later known as Van Allen radiation belts — was a groundbreaking achievement.
Van Allen, who was born in Mount Pleasant in 1914, became a professor and head of the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1951. He won numerous awards and was given the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement, in 1987 by President Reagan. He retired from active teaching in 1985 but remained active monitoring data from the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, according to an article posted on the university Web site. … Read full obituary
