Search
Cookie Usage Statistics Colour Key Sudden Death Monthly Poll Caption Comp eMail Author Shops
Ships Fleets Weaponry Species People Timelines Calculators Photo Galleries
Stations Design Lineage Size Charts Battles Science / Tech Temporal Styling Maps / Politics
Articles Reviews Lists Recreation Search Site Guide What's New Forum
Bioship Planetbuster Assault Ship Fighter Emissary Kendra Pagh Prophet Solar Sail Additional Cube Probe Singularity Ship Sphere Tactical Cube Transwarp Prototype Yacht Dreadnought Freighter Galor Hideki Keldon Breen Frigate Attack Ship Battlecruiser Battleship Dreadnought Karemma Ship Air Tram Akira Ambassador Antares Centaur Challenger Cheyenne Class F Shuttle Constellation Constitution Constitution Daedalus Danube Defender Defiant Delta Flyer Endgame Nova Endgame Shuttle Excelsior Excelsior II Excelsior Variant 1 Federation Class Raider Scout Trainer Freedom Gagarin Gage Galaxy Galaxy Yacht Griffin Hermes Holo Ship Intrepid Kelvin Luna Miranda Nebula New Orleans Niagara Norway Nova Oberth Olympic Orbital Shuttle Peregrine Polaris Prometheus Ptolemy Raven Refit Galaxy Reliant Rigel Ross Saber Sagan Saladin Shelley Sovereign Sovereign Yacht Soyuz Springfield Steamrunner Sutherland Sydney Travel Pod Trident Type 3 Shuttle Type 6 Shuttle Type 7 Shuttle Type 8 Shuttle Type 9 Shuttle Type 10 Shuttle Type 11 Shuttle Type 14 Shuttle Type 15 Shuttle Type 17 Shuttle Type 18 Shuttle Warp Sled Wells Work Bee Yeager Additional D'Kora Additional Ares Conestoga DY-100 Intrepid J Class Neptune NX Class NX Test Ship Saturn V SS Enterprise The Phoenix Type 0 Shuttle USS Enterprise Valiant Y Class Additional Raider Predator Additional B'rel D'tai D-5 D-7 Early Bird of Prey K'pak K'T'Inga Bird of Prey Cargo Ship Tanker Negh'var Raptor Regency Voodieh Vor'cha Additional D'Deridex Early Bird of Prey Narada Norexan Bird of Prey D7 Science ship Scout Shuttle Scimitar Scorpion Additional Battleship Collector Destroyer Additional Cell Ship Module Ship Salvage Ship Additional Observation Ship War Ship Additional D'Kyr Sh'Raan Suurok Vahklas Lander Additional Aquatic Cruiser Arboreal Ship Insectoid Assault Ship Insectoid Fighter Insectoid Warship Primate Ship Primate Shuttle Reptilian Warship Additional Dauntless Doomsday Machine Kumari class Angosian Ship Cravic Ship Yonada Hirogen Ship Husnock Ship Krenim Patrol Krenim Timeship Krenim Warship Malon Ship Mawasi Cruiser Eymorg Ship Nihydron Ship Pralor Ship Promellian Battlecruiser Tarellian Ship Early Tholian Ship V'Ger Whale Probe Varro Ship Zahl Ship Additional

Drake Equation Calculator

Created by Frank Drake in 1961, the original Drake equation was designed to calculate the number of intelligent communicative species which could be expected to exist in the galaxy. To accomplish this the equation multiplied a series of terms such as the rate of star formation, the fraction of stars with planetary systems, the number of planets in each system, etc. The number of intelligent species was simply the product of all these terms. Many different versions have come to exist over the centuries since the original was created; the original equation is reproduced here.

When the original equation was created only a few of the terms were known with any significant degree of accuracy; the real value of the equation, then, lay in the debate it promoted rather than the answers it produced. As Humanity has expended into space it has become possible to gain a greater understanding of astrophysics and a sampling of the distribution of life in a statistically significant percentage of the galaxy, allowing the equation to be used with a much higher level of confidence.

Rate of star formation : per year (typical values 10-40)
Percentage of stars with planets : (typical values 20% to 50%)
Average number of planets per system :
Percentage of planets capable of supporting life :
Percentage of life capable planets that evolve life :
Percentage of life bearing planets on which intelligence evolves :
Life span on an intelligent civilisation : years
Current number of intelligent lifeforms :

© Graham & Ian Kennedy Page views : 55,096 Last updated : 18 Apr 2024