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| | Guardian Unlimited | Science | Obituary: James Van Allen |
 | | The physicist James Van Allen, who has died aged 91, achieved worldwide fame by discovering and describing the vast asteroidal belts of high radiation that encircle the Earth, carry his name, reach out great distances into space and can be seen in the beauty of the auroras. |
 | | Van Allen's space experiments began immediately after the second world war when, at White Sands, New Mexico, captured German V-2 rockets were deployed alongside US Aerobee rockets, both for technical investigation and as a basis for upper atmosphere research. |
 | | Van Allen, at the time leading a cosmic ray expedition in the Antarctic, was summoned back to Iowa to play his part in an accelerated American response. |
| www.guardian.co.uk /science/story/0,,1842150,00.html (1254 words) |
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