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James Van Allen

Professor James Van Allen of the University of Iowa designed the cosmic ray detector experiment on JPL’s Explorer satellite, launched in 1958. He was also the principal investigator for the radiation experiment that was part of the Pioneer III and IV payloads. In this photo, Dr. Van Allen is looking at the cone-shaped Pioneer probe, before it was gold plated and painted with stripes (to maintain a temperature of 10-50 degrees C during flight).

 

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Credit: NASA/JPL

Image Number: 293-4061C

Date: 1959

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Uploaded on September 7, 2017
Taken sometime in 1959