J. Bernard Blake
The physicist was a leader in the studies of Earth’s radiation belts, cosmic-ray physics, and nuclear astrophysics.
DOI: 10.1063/pt.dyrj.zeua
J. Bernard Blake, a pioneer in space research, passed away on 21 October 2023. He was born on 14 December 1935 in New York. After completing his PhD in physics under the direction of Hans Frauenfelder at the University of Illinois in 1962, he joined the newly created Aerospace Corporation.
During his more than 60-year career at the Aerospace Corporation, Blake was a leader in the studies of Earth’s radiation belts, cosmic-ray physics, and nuclear astrophysics. He designed complex instrumentation that flew aboard innumerable Air Force, NASA, and ESA satellites near Earth and as far away as the Moon. He was skilled in the interpretation of the data from these instruments, and he was the author or contributor for more than 1400 scientific publications and presentations at conferences at home and abroad. For his many scientific contributions he was recognized as both an American Physical Society and American Geophysical Union fellow. During his career, he made many significant contributions to the nation in the development and operation of national security space systems.
Blake worked with many colleagues in the US and abroad in different subfields of space and nuclear astrophysics. He was generous in contributing his data to countless research projects over the six decades of his career, and he was the inspiration and mentor to generations of space scientists and engineers.
In recognition of his lifelong commitment to sharing his ideas and work with the generations to come, contributions toward supporting student travel to the AGU annual meeting can be made via this website . Choose “Space Physics and Aeronomy Section Fund,” and specify that the gift is in memory of “Bern Blake.”
Obituaries are made available as a service to the physical sciences community and are not commissioned by Physics Today. Submissions are lightly edited for grammar and style. Click here for guidelines on submitting an obituary. If you are a copyright holder who thinks that an obituary violates your copyright, please contact us .