Dr. Metzger is a globally recognized authority on lunar soil mechanics, regolith physics, lunar surface systems, and space resource economics. He brings decades of hands-on expertise across lunar rovers, mining systems, construction technologies, and extraterrestrial resource processing.
He earned his B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Central Florida.
Over a distinguished 30-year career at NASA, Dr. Metzger led the agency’s work on rocket blast effects for human-class missions. He contributed to architecture studies for the Lunar Architecture Team, Mars Architecture Team, and the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, and helped shape NASA’s technology roadmap for planetary surface systems.
His work includes leading the development of:
- Extraterrestrial excavators
- Regolith conveyance technologies
- Dust-tolerant quick disconnects
- Lunar and Martian landing pads
- Critical surface systems for off-world operations
Dr. Metzger also 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.
His honors include:
- NASA Scientist/Engineer of the Year (Kennedy Space Center, 2011)
- Astronauts’ Silver Snoopy Award (2011)
- NASA Silver Achievement Medal (2014)
- ASCE Outstanding Technical Contribution Award (2016)
- NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow (2019)
“Having Phil on the team is a game changer for the Magna Petra mission,” said Jeffrey Max, CEO of Magna Petra.
“Phil’s decades of research and accomplishments are virtually 100% aligned with our mission to establish a reliable helium-3 supply chain to power the AI Century.”
Dr. Metzger added:
“I’m delighted to be working with the team at Magna Petra. It’s exciting to see one’s work deployed to practical advantage—especially when that mission is the non-invasive harvesting of helium-3. The implications for clean energy, quantum computing, and AI are enormous.”
