Dan Alderson

Daniel John "Dan" Alderson (October 31, 1941 – May 17, 1989) was a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and a prominent participant in science fiction fandom. He came from a middle class family and had diabetes. A high school science fair project on the gravitational fields of non-spherical bodies won him a college scholarship to Caltech and a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he wrote the software used to navigate Voyagers 1 and 2.

A member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, an Official Editor of the comic book APA CAPA-alpha, and an early member of gaming fandom, he came into contact with a number of science fiction writers, notably Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, who, in their books, credit Dan Alderson with ideas that inspired some of their science fiction, notably the Alderson drive and the Alderson disk. As "Dan Forrester" he is a prominent character in Lucifer's Hammer.

Alderson did not write science fiction himself, but for his own amusement created the imaginary planet of Wibblefubwilda, a planet where everyone gets his heart's desire. He died at an early age from complications of diabetes. He is remembered as a patron saint^[1] of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, which honored his memory with a parking space reserved in his name in front of their clubhouse until they moved to a new location without dedicated parking.

Alderson devised a Fortran algorithm (called TRAM for Trajectory Monitor) for navigation in the Solar System, still used by low-thrust craft in 2008.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ http://www.lasfsinc.info///index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=172#saints
2. ^ Christian McGuire, President, Vice Chairman, and Comptroller of LASFS, quoted in the Menace (Minutes) of the LASFS, meeting number 3569, Jan. 5, 2006. Condensed version in De Profundis #398 http://www.lasfsinc.info/newdeprof/deprof434.pdf
3. ^ SF Author Jerry Pournelle, ibid, LASFS Board Member and President Milt Stevens, Menace of the LASFS, Meeting #3673, Jan. 3, 2008 http://lasfs.livejournal.com/35651.html

Persondata
Name	Alderson, Dan
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Date of birth	October 31, 1941
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Date of death	May 17, 1989
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