Phil Metzger News

Some of Metzger’s latest inventions are designed to help cost-effectively gather, use and manage resources, such as ice for water and fuel and lunar soil for building materials.

This is the 11th year that UCF has ranked in the top 100 universities in the world for patents.

Lunar landing pads will have to keep people and equipment from being sandblasted by moon dust and particles traveling at more than 10,000 miles per hour as a rocket takes off or lands.

Space debris can endanger spacecraft and damage satellites that are critical to everything from communication to GPS, air traffic control, surveillance and national security.

As NASA makes its second launch attempt for the Artemis 1 mission, planetary scientist Phil Metzger ’00MS’05PhD — who worked on the Space Shuttle program Launch Team — shares insight on launch preparations and scrubs.

More than 20 faculty and researchers and dozens of students and alumni are working on multiple projects that support America’s space program and NASA’s return to the moon — including the Artemis 1 mission launching this year.

UCF faculty participate in pop culture convention to help people understand space science and why it matters in an entertaining way.

The work reflects UCF’s role as a leader in producing the technology and workforce needed for the nation’s new space race.

Phil Metzger ’00MS’05PhD, a planetary scientist with nearly 30 years of experience at NASA, shares stories from working on the space shuttle missions, his controversial research on whether Pluto is a planet, and what the future of space exploration will look like.