{"id":150206,"date":"2025-12-08T10:07:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=150206"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:46:29","slug":"ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF to Play Key Role in NASA\u2019s Artemis IV Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UCF will play a key role in a newly announced NASA Artemis IV mission partnership that aims to, for the first time, directly test and calibrate a groundbreaking new theory developed by UCF Director of the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education and planetary scientist <strong>Phil Metzger \u201900MS \u201905PhD<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/class\/landing-team\/\">how rocket exhaust lifts and accelerates lunar dust<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>UCF\u2019s expertise will help drive the success of DUSTER, a payload designed specifically to capture and measure dust behavior during spacecraft and human operations on the moon. Lunar Outpost\u2019s Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover will support NASA\u2019s DUSTER (Dust and plaSma environmenT survEyoR) investigation, selected for development through the Artemis IV Deployed Instruments program. The instruments will be built at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder.<\/p>\n<p>DUSTER represents the best opportunity to date to evaluate the theory on the physics of dust erosion, with implications for the activities being planned on the moon\u2019s surface. The Artemis IV mission is due to launch in 2028.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150208\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\" class=\"figure float-right\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-150208 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Man with graying beard wearing a gray buttondown shirt and dark suit speaks on stage\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-150208 size-medium lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20300%20200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Man with graying beard wearing a gray buttondown shirt and dark suit speaks on stage\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20300%20200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit.jpg 1200w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/phil-metzger-space-summit-300x200.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Phil Metzger gave the closing address at the Economist Space Economy Summit, held at UCF during Space Week this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Testing Rocket Exhaust and Dust Erosion<\/h2>\n<p>This theory introduces a fundamentally new understanding of the behavior of gas in the boundary layer, the thin region where rocket exhaust meets the moon\u2019s surface. This new physics shows how the gas flow in that layer lifts dust grains \u2014something no previous model could adequately explain. Before this breakthrough, NASA lacked a method to reliably predict how much lunar dust erosion a landing or departing spacecraft would generate, and therefore could not fully estimate how much sandblasting damage would occur to hardware on the moon.<\/p>\n<p>However, several key parameters in this new model cannot be measured accurately using existing lunar data or Earth-based experiments. On Earth, large-scale testing is limited: rocket exhaust cannot be blasted into a vacuum chamber without destroying the vacuum, and gravity cannot be reduced to lunar levels for the necessary full-scale trials.<\/p>\n<p>DUSTER will change that. By collecting data during actual Starship Human Landing System operations on the moon, DUSTER will allow scientists to measure these long-elusive parameters directly in the lunar environment \u2014 providing the highest-fidelity test yet of Metzger\u2019s theory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of DUSTER\u2019s capabilities is measuring the dust blown by rocket exhaust as the Starship Human Landing System lifts off and departs from the moon,\u201d Metzger says.<\/p>\n<p>In this project, University of Colorado Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics senior researcher Xu Wang, who serves as principal investigator, will analyze upstream plasma conditions. UCF will interpret measurements of dust ejected during the Human Landing System liftoff.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cUCF brings to this project its expertise in the science of how rocket exhaust blows soil and dust.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Phil Metzger<\/strong> <strong>\u201900MS \u201905PhD<\/strong>, UCF planetary scientist<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cUCF brings to this project its expertise in the science of how rocket exhaust blows soil and dust,\u201d says Metzger.<\/p>\n<p>The findings generated by DUSTER will directly inform NASA\u2019s long-term plans for sustained lunar operations, providing critical insights to protect habitats, instruments, and other assets as human presence on the moon grows. As NASA plans to deliver major infrastructure to the lunar surface, Artemis IV presents a new opportunity to address this outstanding engineering challenge of lunar exploration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researcher<strong> Phil Metzger \u201900MS \u201905PhD<\/strong> prepares for the first real-world test of lunar dust theory that could have implications for activities being planned on the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":150207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[23,24],"tags":[54179,14751,15551,4361,54644],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-150206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-science-technology","tag-artemis","tag-faculty-excellence","tag-phil-metzger","tag-space","tag-space-research"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UCF to Play Key Role in NASA\u2019s Artemis IV Mission<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researcher Phil Metzger \u201900MS \u201905PhD prepares for the first real-world test of lunar dust theory that could have implications for activities being planned on the moon\u2019s surface.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF to Play Key Role in NASA\u2019s Artemis IV Mission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researcher Phil Metzger \u201900MS \u201905PhD prepares for the first real-world test of lunar dust theory that could have implications for activities being planned on the moon\u2019s surface.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T15:07:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T21:46:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2025\/12\/rover-space.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jenna Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bbcb2bbfa580f27936bd841c70479c63\"},\"headline\":\"UCF to Play Key Role in NASA\u2019s Artemis IV Mission\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T15:07:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-07T21:46:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":568,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-to-play-key-role-in-nasas-artemis-iv-mission\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/rover-space.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Artemis\",\"Faculty Excellence\",\"Phil Metzger\",\"space\",\"Space Research\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Research\",\"Science &amp; 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