Space scientist Van Allen dies at 91

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Physicist James A. Van Allen, a leader in space exploration who discovered the radiation belts surrounding the Earth that now bear his name, died Wednesday. He was 91.

The University of Iowa, where he taught for years, announced the death in a statement on its Web site.

In a career that stretched over more than a half-century, Van Allen designed scientific instruments for dozens of research flights, first with small rockets and balloons, and eventually with space probes that traveled to distant planets and beyond.

Van Allen gained global attention in the late 1950s when instruments he designed and placed aboard the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, discovered the bands of intense radiation that surround the Earth, now known as the Van Allen Belts.

The bands spawned a whole new field of research known as magnetospheric physics, an area of study that now involves more than 1,000 investigators in more than 20 countries.

The discovery also propelled the United States in its space exploration race with the Soviet Union and prompted Time magazine to put Van Allen on the cover of its May 4, 1959, issue.

“He was one of the most important people in the entire area of space science,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, professor of space science and aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan.

“What he did for our understanding was really a crucial step into bringing humanity into space,” he said. “What he’s done has shown that space is an immensely interesting place.”

The folksy, pipe-smoking scientist, called “Van” by friends, retired from full-time teaching in 1985. But he continued to write, oversee research, counsel students and monitor data gathered by satellites. He worked in a large, cluttered corner office on the seventh floor of the physics and astronomy building that bears his name.

In 1987, President Reagan presented Van Allen with the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement.

Two years later, Van Allen received the Crafoord Prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm each year since 1982 for scientific research in areas not recognized by the Nobel Prizes.

Besides the discovery of the Van Allen belts, the academy cited him for providing the first instruments carried near another planet, those taken on the 1962 Venus mission by Mariner 2, and for his work training other space researchers.