James Van Allen dead at 91

[Bluzmann57]

In case anyone doesn't know, Professor Van Allen was a famed physicist and space pioneer who discovered the Van Allen radiation belt which surrounds our planet. He taught at the University of Iowa until 1985 and continued to stay active at the University right up until the end. For more info go to www.qctimes.net. It is about halfway down on the home page under breaking news. RIP Dr. Van Allen. Thanks for your contributions to the U.S. space program.

[Breeze54]

1. I think I read about this here today. Sad. n/t

[1620rock]

2. Thank you for letting us know about his passing. A great man of..

..science.

[3waygeek]

3. I met Van Allen once

IIRC, it was back in 1980 on a school field trip to Iowa City. I still have an autographed photo from that visit. Physics was one of my majors when I went off to Iowa State in '81, so meeting Van Allen was even more special to me.

[Tsiyu]

4. smarty pants!

Physics kicked my ass in college.

Kudos to you for conquering it

And cool that you got to meet one of your idols - and a very great man indeed.

[Mistwell]

13. Very cool!

Making scientists into rock stars, well...rocks!

[Algorem]

5. did he find any suspenders out there?

[denverbill]

6. I had him for an astronomy class at the U of I.

He was a really entertaining and likeable professor. It's pretty rare that a distinguished Nobel prize winner like that would even teach an undergraduate basic astronomy class, but he not only did it, he seemed to really enjoy it. The world will be a poorer place without him.

[mikeiddy]

8. I took that class as well

It wasn't an easy class as most science survey classes tend to be. In order to get a good grade we were required to chart the moon for a month, meaning going out into the winter cold every clear night, sometimes in the wee hours. The TA's kept track of the weather and busted anyone who used an ephemeris to fake a chart for an overcast night.

Great class, and a classy prof.

RIP

[Odin2005]

7. He was one of the greats of the early days of space exploration.

RIP Dr. Van Allen.

[Burma Jones]

9. RIP, Doc

May Respect and Honor go with you........

[newyawker99]

10. Rest in peace Dr Van Allen.

[Beelzebud]

11. R.I.P. Mr. Van Allen. You'll be missed.

[Skidmore]

12. Dr. Van Allen will be greatly missed at UI.

Our condolences to his family. He will be remembered in the cosmos.