James Van Allen

Astrophysicist and space pioneer James Van Allen (1914-2006), for whom the Van Allen radiation belts were named, was among the principal scientific investigators for twenty-four space missions, including" Explorer I" in 1958, the first successful U.S. satellite; "Mariner 2"'s 1962 flyby of Venus, the first successful mission to another planet; and the 1970s "Pioneer 10" and "Pioneer 11" missions that surveyed Jupiter and Saturn. Although he retired as a University of Iowa professor of physics and astronomy in 1985, he remained an active researcher, using his campus office to monitor data from "Pioneer 10"--on course to reach the edge of the solar system when its signal was lost in 2003--until a short time before his death at the age of ninety-one. Now Abigail Foerstner blends space science drama, military agendas, cold war politics, and the events of Van Allen's lengthy career to create the first biography of this highly influential physicist.