ABSTRACT
Philip T. Metzger is a research physicist and the founder of the Granular Materials and Regolith Operations Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where he has worked since 1985. He was a part of the Space Shuttle launch team and later with the International Space Station program. He is now performing research for lunar and Martian exploration and is leading the effort to understand how rocket exhaust interacts with soil. Dr. Metzger earned his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University. He grew up in Titusville, Florida and on Westport Island, Maine. He and his wife Gigi have four children and live in Orlando, Florida.
