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James Van Allen
James Alfred Van Allen
Born	September 7, 1914 Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Died	August 9, 2006 Iowa City, Iowa
Residence	USA
Nationality	American
Fields	space scientist
Institutions	University of Iowa
Alma mater	Iowa Wesleyan College University of Iowa
Known for	Van Allen radiation belts
Notable awards	TIME magazine Man of the Year, 1960 National Medal of Science, 1987

James Alfred Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa. The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions (Explorer I and Explorer 3) in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles. Image File history File links Wikitext. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mount Pleasant is a city located in Henry County, Iowa. ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or locally UI, is a major coeducational research university located on a 1,900-acre (8 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River in East Central Iowa. ... For other uses, see Alma mater (disambiguation). ... Iowa Wesleyan College is a private accredited 4-year independent college located Mt. ... The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or locally UI, is a major coeducational research university located on a 1,900-acre (8 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River in East Central Iowa. ... Van Allen radiation belts The Van Allen Radiation Belt is a torus of energetic charged particles (plasma) around Earth, held in place by Earths magnetic field. ... Person of the Year is an annual issue of United States (U.S.) newsmagazine Time that features a profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that [1] // The tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927, when Time editors contemplated what they could... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or locally UI, is a major coeducational research university located on a 1,900-acre (8 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River in East Central Iowa. ... Van Allen radiation belts The Van Allen Radiation Belt is a torus of energetic charged particles (plasma) around Earth, held in place by Earths magnetic field. ... This article is about artificial satellites. ... Explorer-I, officially Satellite 1958 Alpha (and sometimes referred to as Explorer 1), was the first Earth satellite of the United States, having been launched at 10:48pm EST on January 31 (03:48 on 1 February in GMT), 1958, as part of the United States program for the International... Mission Description Explorer-III was nearly identical to Explorer I in design and mission. ... A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger-Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. ... Helium atom (schematic) Showing two protons (red), two neutrons (green) and two electrons (yellow). ...

Honors

• TIME magazine Man of the Year in 1960
• Distinguished Fellow, Iowa Academy of Science in 1975
• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1978
• National Medal of Science in 1987
• Crafoord Prize in 1989
• Vannevar Bush Award in 1991
• NASA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994
• National Air and Space Museum Trophy in 2006

Gold Medal awarded to Asaph Hall The Gold Medal is the highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society. ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. ... The Crafoord Prize was established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, the inventor of the artificial kidney, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. ... The Vannevar Bush Award has been given each year since 1980 by National Science Foundation to persons who contributed most toward the welfare of mankind and the nation. The award is named after the American scientist Vannevar Bush (1890-1974). ... The National Air and Space Museum Trophy was established in 1985. ...

Timeline (1914-2006)

• September 7, 1914

James Van Allen was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mount Pleasant is a city located in Henry County, Iowa. ...

• 1931

James Van Allen graduated as valedictorian of Mount Pleasant Public High School.

• 1935

Van Allen received his Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, from Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant. During his undergraduate years, he studied with Professor Thomas Poulter, a first-class physicist. He tracked meteors, conducted a magnetic survey of Mount Pleasant, and measured cosmic rays at ground level. Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... Iowa Wesleyan College is a private accredited 4-year independent college located Mt. ...

• 1936

Van Allen earned his master’s degree in solid state physics from the University of Iowa. The University of Iowa, also commonly called Iowa or locally UI, is a major coeducational research university located on a 1,900-acre (8 km²) campus in Iowa City, Iowa, US, on the banks of the Iowa River in East Central Iowa. ...

• 1939

Van Allen received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Iowa. His doctoral research was on measuring the cross-section of the deuteron-deuteron reaction.

• 1940

As a staff physicist for the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., Van Allen worked on developing photoelectric and radio proximity fuses for bombs, rockets, and gun-fired projectiles. It was here that Dr. Van Allen acquired his interest in cosmic rays. The Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) is a foundation established by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 to support scientific research. ... A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze, for variable time) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. ...

• 1942

Van Allen joined the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University to continue his work on proximity fuzes. Later in 1942, he entered the Navy, serving in the South Pacific Fleet as an assistant gunnery officer. The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. ... A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze, for variable time) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. ...

• 1946

Discharged from the Navy, Van Allen returned to civilian research at APL. He organized and directed a team at Johns Hopkins University to conduct high-altitude experiments, using V-2 rockets captured from the Germans at the end of World War II. Van Allen decided a small sounding rocket was needed for upper atmosphere research and the Aerojet WAC Corporal and the Bumblebee missile were developed under a US Navy program. He drew specifications for the Aerobee and headed the committee that convinced the U.S. government to produce it. For other uses, see V2. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A sounding rocket, sometimes called an elevator research rocket, is an instrument-carrying suborbital rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its flight. ... The Aerobee rocket was a small (8 m) unguided suborbital sounding rocket used for high atmospheric and cosmic radiation research in the United States in the 1950s. ...

• December 29, 1947

Van Allen elected chairman of the V-2 Upper Atmosphere Panel. The panel was renamed Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel on March 18, 1948; then Rocket and Satellite Research Panel on April 29, 1948. The panel suspended operations on May 19, 1960 and had a reunion on February 2, 1968.^[1] is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see V2. ...

• March 1, 1949

Cmdr. Lee Lewis, Cmdr. G. Halvorson, S. F. Singer, and James A. Van Allen develop the idea for the Rockoon during the Aerobee rocket firing cruise of the U.S.S. Norton Sound. is the 60th day of the year (61st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Siegfried Frederick Singer (born September 27, 1924 in Vienna) is an electrical engineer and physicist. ... A rockoon (derived from the terms rocket and balloon) was an extension to the rocket, which allowed the rocket to achieve further distance. ...

In 1950 an event occurred that began small but was to affect the future of Van Allen and all his countrymen. In March, British Physicist Sydney Chapman (astronomer) dropped in on Van Allen [and] remarked that he would like to meet other scientists in the Washington area. Van Allen got on the phone, soon gathered eight or ten top scientists (Lloyd Berkner, S. Fred Singer, and Harry Vestine) in the living room of his small brick house. ‘It was what you might call a pedigreed bull session,’ he says. ... The talk turned to geophysics and the two ‘International Polar Years’ that had enlisted the world’s leading nations to study the Arctic and Antarctic regions in 1882 and 1932. Someone suggested that with the development of new tools such as rockets, radar and computers, the time was ripe for a worldwide geophysical year. The other men were enthusiastic, and their enthusiasm spread around the world from Washington DC. From this meeting Lloyd Berkner and other participants proposed to the International Council of Scientific Unions that an IGY be planned for 1957-58 during the maximum solar activity). ... The International Geophysical Year (1957-58) stimulated the U.S. Government to promise earth satellites as geophysical tools. The Soviet government countered by rushing its Sputniks into orbit. The race into space or Space Race may be said to have started in Van Allen’s living room that evening in 1950. Sydney Chapman (January 29, 1888 – June 16, 1970) was a British astronomer and geophysicist. ... Lloyd V. Berkner (born February 1, 1905, in Milwaukee, died June 4, 1967, in Washington, D.C.) was the U.S. physicist and engineer who first measured the height and density of the ionosphere. ... Siegfried Frederick Singer (born September 27, 1924) was an atmospheric physicist. ... The International Polar Year (or IPY) was a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. ... The International Geophysical Year or IGY was an international scientific effort that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. ... For a list of key events, see Timeline of space exploration. ...

– TIME, 1959 TIME redirects here. ...

• April 5, 1950

Van Allen left APL to accept a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation research fellowship at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. ... ≠ Aerial view of Brookhaven National Laboratory. ...

• 1951

James Van Allen became head of the physics department at the University of Iowa. Before long, he was enlisting students in his efforts to discover the secrets of the wild blue yonder and inventing ways to carry instruments higher into the atmosphere than ever before. Van Allen was the first to devise a balloon-rocket combination that lifted rockets on balloons high above most of Earth’s atmosphere before firing them even higher. The rockets were ignited after the balloons reached an altitude of 16 kilometers.

• 1952

As TIME reported in 1959, “Van Allen’s ‘Rockoons’ could not be fired in Iowa for fear that the spent rockets would strike an Iowan or his house.” So Van Allen convinced the U.S. Coast Guard to let him fire his rockoons from the icebreaker Eastwind that was bound for Greenland. “The first balloon rose properly to 70,000 ft., but the rocket hanging under it did not fire. The second Rockoon behaved in the same maddening way. On the theory that extreme cold at high altitude might have stopped the clockwork supposed to ignite the rockets, Van Allen heated cans of orange juice, snuggled them into the third Rockoon’s gondola, and wrapped the whole business in insulation. The rocket fired.” A rockoon (derived from the terms rocket and balloon) was an extension to the rocket, which allowed the rocket to achieve further distance. ...

• 1953

Rockoons fired off Newfoundland detect the first hint of radiation belts surrounding Earth. The low-cost Rockoon technique was later used by the Office of Naval Research and The University of Iowa research groups in 1953-55 and 1957, from ships in sea between Boston and Thule, Greenland. ONR Logo The Office of Naval Research (ONR), headquartered in Arlington, Virginia (Ballston), is an office of the U.S. Navy that carries out scientific research to support the Navy and Marine Corps in the interest of national security. ...

• January 26, 1956

Symposium on "The Scientific Uses of Earth Satellites" held at the University of Michigan under sponsorship of the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel, James A. Van Allen of The University of Iowa, Chairman. is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Pickering, Van Allen & Von Braun at a NASA news conference.

Van Allen with Soviet scientists at 1959 International conference on cosmic radiation.

• July 1, 1957

The International Geophysical Year begins. IGY is carried out by the International Council of Scientific Unions, over an 18-month period selected to match the period of maximum solar activity (e.g. sun spots). Lloyd Berkner, one of the scientists at the April 5, 1950 Silver Spring, Maryland meeting in Van Allen's home, serves as president of the ICSU from 1957 to 1959. Image File history File links Van_Allen_Explorer_1. ... Image File history File links Van_Allen_Explorer_1. ... Willam H. Pickering, JPL/NASA Photo Sir William Hayward Pickering ONZ KBE (December 24, 1910—March 15, 2004) was a New Zealand-American who headed Pasadena, Californias Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for 22 years, retiring in 1976. ... For other uses of von Braun, see von Braun (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Van_Allen_with_Soviet_Scientists. ... Image File history File links Van_Allen_with_Soviet_Scientists. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... 400 year sunspot history A sunspot is a region on the Suns surface (photosphere) that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings, and intense magnetic activity. ... is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• September 26, 1957

Thirty-six Rockoons (balloon-launched rockets) were launched from Navy icebreaker U.S.S. Glacier in Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic areas ranging from 75° N. to 72° S. latitude, as part of the U.S. International Geophysical Year scientific program headed by James A. Van Allen and Lawrence J. Cahill of The University of Iowa. These were the first known upper atmosphere rocket soundings in the Antartctic area. Launched from IGY Rockoon Launch Site 2, Atlantic Ocean - Latitude: 0.83° N, Longitude: 0.99° W. is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...

• October 4, 1957

The Soviet Union (USSR) successfully launches Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite, as part of their participation in the IGY. is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Sputnik 1 (Russian: , Satellite-1, or literally Co-traveler-1 byname ПС-1 (PS-1, i. ...

• January 31, 1958

The first American satellite, Explorer 1, was launched into Earth's orbit on a Jupiter C missile from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard Explorer 1 were a micrometeorite detector and a cosmic ray experiment designed by Dr. Van Allen and his graduate students. Data from Explorer 1 and Explorer 3 (launched March 26, 1958) were used by the Iowa group to make the first space-age scientific discovery: the existence of a doughnut-shaped region of charged particle radiation trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Explorer-I, officially known as Satellite 1958 Alpha, was the first United States Earth satellite and was sent aloft as part of the United States program for the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958. ... Mission Description Explorer-III was nearly identical to Explorer I in design and mission. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ...

• July 1958

United States Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act"), which created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies.

• December 6, 1958

Pioneer 3, the third intended U.S. International Geophysical Year lunar probe under the direction of NASA with the Army acting as executive agent, was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range by a Juno II rocket. The primary objective of the flight, to place the 12.95 pound (5.87 kg) scientific payload in the vicinity of the moon, failed. Pioneer III did reach an altitude of 63,000 miles (101 Mm), providing Van Allen additional data that led to discovery of a second radiation belt. Trapped radiation starts at an altitude of several hundred miles from Earth and extends for several thousand miles into space. The Van Allen radiation belts are named for Dr. James Van Allen, their discoverer. is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Pioneer III Pioneer 3 was a spin stabilized spacecraft launched by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile agency in conjunction with NASA. The spacecraft was intended as a lunar probe, but failed to go past the Moon and into a heliocentric orbit as planned, but did reach an altitude of... Van Allen radiation belts The Van Allen Radiation Belt is a torus of energetic charged particles (plasma) around Earth, held in place by Earths magnetic field. ...

• May 4, 1959

TIME magazine writers credited James Van Allen as the man most responsible for giving the U.S. “a big lead in scientific achievement.” They called Van Allen “a key figure in the cold war’s competition for prestige. ...Today he can tip back his head and look at the sky. Beyond its outermost blue are the world-encompassing belts of fierce radiation that bear his name. No human name has ever been given to a more majestic feature of the planet Earth.” is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• 1960 and beyond

Since 1960, James Van Allen, his colleagues, associates and students at The University of Iowa have flown scientific instruments on sounding rockets, Earth satellites (Hawkeye 1), and interplanetary spacecraft — including the first missions (Pioneer program, Mariner program, Voyager program, Galileo spacecraft) to the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Their discoveries have contributed important segments to the world's knowledge of energetic particles, plasmas and radio waves throughout the solar system. Explorer 52 also referred to as Hawkeye 1 was a US satellite launched on June 3, 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Scout booster. ... The US Pioneer program of unmanned space missions was designed for planetary exploration. ... Launch of Mariner 1 (NASA) The Mariner program was a program conducted by the American space agency NASA that launched a series of robotic interplanetary probes designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury. ... Voyager Project redirects here. ... Galileo is prepared for mating with the IUS booster Galileo being deployed after being launched by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission Galileo was an unmanned spacecraft sent by NASA to study the planet Jupiter and its moons. ...

• 1985

Dr. Van Allen retired from The University of Iowa in 1985, but continued to live in Iowa City and served as the Carver Professor of Physics, Emeritus.

• October 9, 2004

The University of Iowa and the UI Alumni Association hosted a celebration to honor Professor James Van Allen and his many accomplishments, and in recognition of his 90th birthday. Activities included an invited lecture series, a public lecture followed by a cake and punch reception, and an evening banquet. is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• August 2005 An Elementary School bearing his name opens in North Liberty Iowa
• August 9, 2006 Dr. Van Allen died at University Hospitals in Iowa City from heart failure.

is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Iowa City is a city located in Johnson County, Iowa, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 62,220. ...

Quotations

• “Certainly one of the most enthralling things about human life is the recognition that we live in what, for practical purposes, is a universe without bounds.”

• “...Outer space, once a region of spirited international competition, is also a region of international cooperation. I realized this as early as 1959, when I attended an international conference on cosmic radiation in Moscow. At this conference, there were many differing views and differing methods of attack, but the problems were common ones to all of us and a unity of basic purpose was everywhere evident.

• “Many of the papers presented there depended in an essential way upon others which had appeared originally in as many as three or four different languages. Surely science is one of the universal human activities.”

References