Phil Metzger

Biography

Philip Metzger is a planetary physicist who retired from NASA. At UCF, Metzger performs research related to solar system exploration: predicting how rocket exhaust interacts with extraterrestrial soil, investigating the mechanics of soil, characterizing lunar and Martian soil simulants, and modeling the migration of volatiles on airless bodies.

Dr. Metzger received his B.S.E. in electrical engineering from Auburn University and a PhD in Physics from UCF. He has been research faculty at UCF since 2016 and is currently the director of the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education.

While at NASA, he led the Agency’s work in rocket blast effects for human-class missions. He participated in architecture studies for the Lunar Architecture Team, the Mars Architecture Team and the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, and he helped develop NASA’s technology roadmap for planetary surface technologies. He has also led projects to develop extraterrestrial excavators, regolith conveyance technologies, dust-tolerant quick disconnects, lunar / martian landing pads, and other surface systems technology. He co-founded NASA’s biannual Workshop on Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration and is a founding member of the ASCE Technical Committee for Regolith Operations, Mobility and Robotics. He was selected as Kennedy Space Center NASA Scientist/Engineer of the Year for 2011. He received the astronaut’s Silver Snoopy award in 2011 and NASA’s Silver Achievement Medal in 2014. He was selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) aerospace division for the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award of 2016. He became a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow in 2019.