Frank Drake is giving a free lecture about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, at Foothill College.

Drake, who has a doctorate from Harvard University in astronomy, is famous for inventing the Drake equation in 1961. The equation estimates the quantity of detectable extraterrestrial life in the Milky Way galaxy.

He also designed the Pioneer plaque with Carl Sagan in 1972. The plaque was a pictorial message attached to the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts, the first human-made objects to leave the solar system.

Drake serves on the board of directors of the SETI Institute in Mountain View. The Institute is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1984, dedicated to researching the prevalence of life in the universe.

The talk is a part of the Peninsula Astronomical Society's monthly meetings. It will take place at Foothill College, Room 5015, near parking lot 5. Parking costs $2.