Peter H. Schultz

Last updated
Peter H. Schultz
Pete Schultz, Stardust NExT co-investigator.jpg
Born (1944-01-22) January 22, 1944 (age 80)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Carleton College
University of Texas - Austin
Awards
Scientific career
Fields Planetary science
Astronomy
Institutions NASA Ames Research Center
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Brown University
Academic advisors J. Hoover Mackin
William R. Muehlberger

Peter H. Schultz (born January 22, 1944) is Professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University specializing in the study of planetary geology, impact cratering on the Earth and other objects in the Solar System, and volcanic modifications of planetary surfaces. [1] [2] He was co-investigator to the NASA Science Mission Directorate spacecraft Deep Impact and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). He was awarded the Barringer Medal of the Meteoritical Society in 2004 for his theoretical and experimental studies of impact craters. [3]

Contents

Education

Schultz earned a BA degree from Carleton College in Minnesota in 1966. He received a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972.

Career

He was a research associate at the NASA Ames Research Center. In 1976 he joined the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) as a Staff Scientist and Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF) director. In 1984 Schultz was appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at Brown University and was named Professor in 1994. He serves as the Science Coordinator for the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range, [4] Chair for NASA Regional Planetary Image Facilities board, Director of NASA Rhode Island Space Grant Consortium, [5] and Director of the Northeast Planetary Data Center. [6]

Schultz is the author of the 1976 book Moon Morphology: Interpretations Based on Lunar Orbiter Photography. [7] He was co-editor for A Primer in Lunar Geology, [8] Multi-Ring Basins, [9] and Geological Implications of Impacts of Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth. [10]

Awards and honors

At the Meteoritical Society in 2004, Schultz was awarded the Barringer Medal for his theoretical and experimental studies of impact craters, which have helped to elucidate cratering processes on the Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars.

His contribution to cratering phenomena experimentally and in the field was recognized with the naming of the asteroid 16592 PeteSchultz in his honor. [11] On the BBC Horizon programme on asteroids, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", first broadcast in 2010, Schultz jokes about the possibility that his asteroid might collide with Earth: "It's a bullet with my name on it."

At the 2010 Hypervelocity Impact Symposium in Freiburg, Germany, Schultz received the Distinguished Scientist Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field of hypervelocity science. [12]

In 2012, Schultz was awarded the G. K. Gilbert Award by the Geological Society of America Planetary Division for his outstanding contributions to the solution of a fundamental problem(s) of planetary geology. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

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An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters are typically circular, though they can be elliptical in shape or even irregular due to events such as landslides. Impact craters range in size from microscopic craters seen on lunar rocks returned by the Apollo Program to simple bowl-shaped depressions and vast, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meteorite</span> Solid debris from outer space that hits a planetary surface

A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meteor Crater</span> Meteorite impact crater in northern Arizona

Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, is an impact crater about 37 mi (60 km) east of Flagstaff and 18 mi (29 km) west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite, after the adjacent Canyon Diablo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meteoroid</span> Sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System

A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust. Many are fragments from comets or asteroids, whereas others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the Moon or Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact event</span> Collision of two astronomical objects

An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or meteoroids and have minimal effect. When large objects impact terrestrial planets such as the Earth, there can be significant physical and biospheric consequences, as the impacting body is usually traveling at several kilometres a second, though atmospheres mitigate many surface impacts through atmospheric entry. Impact craters and structures are dominant landforms on many of the Solar System's solid objects and present the strongest empirical evidence for their frequency and scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Merle Shoemaker</span> American geologist and astronomer (1928–1997)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planetary geology</span> Geology of astronomical objects apparently in orbit around stellar objects

Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo- prefix typically indicates topics of or relating to Earth, planetary geology is named as such for historical and convenience reasons; due to the types of investigations involved, it is closely linked with Earth-based geology. These investigations are centered around the composition, structure, processes, and history of a celestial body.

Paul D. Spudis (1952–2018) was an American geologist and lunar scientist. His specialty was the study of volcanism and impact processes on the planets, including Mercury and Mars.

Graham Ryder was an English geologist and lunar scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Meteoritical Society</span>

The Meteoritical Society is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1933 to promote research and education in planetary science with emphasis on studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of the origin and history of the Solar System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dante Lauretta</span> American space science professor (b. 1970)

Dante S. Lauretta is a professor of planetary science and cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He is the principal investigator on NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ejecta blanket</span> Symmetrical apron of ejecta that surrounds an impact crater

An ejecta blanket is a generally symmetrical apron of ejecta that surrounds an impact crater; it is layered thickly at the crater's rim and thin to discontinuous at the blanket's outer edge. The impact cratering is one of the basic surface formation mechanisms of the solar system bodies and the formation and emplacement of ejecta blankets are the fundamental characteristics associated with impact cratering event. The ejecta materials are considered as the transported materials beyond the transient cavity formed during impact cratering regardless of the state of the target materials.

<i>Traces of Catastrophe</i> Comprehensive technical reference on the science of impact craters

Traces of Catastrophe: A Handbook of Shock-Metamorphic Effects in Terrestrial Meteorite Impact Structures is a book written by Bevan M. French of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a comprehensive technical reference on the science of impact craters. It was published in 1998 by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), which is part of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). It was originally available in hard copy from LPI, but is now only available as a portable document format (PDF) e-book free download.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabetta Pierazzo</span> Scientist

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References

  1. Q - S. Gale Group. 2005. ISBN   9780787673987 . Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  2. American Men and Women of Science, 1998–1999
  3. Meteoritical Society Newsletter "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-10-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Brown Professor Helps Lead NASA Crash Landing into Moon". news.brown.edu. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  5. http://www.planetary.brown.edu/RI_Space_Grant/Welcome%5B%5D to the RISG Consortium
  6. "Northeast Planetary Data Center". geo.brown.edu. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  7. Moon morphology: Interpretations based on Lunar Orbiter photography, University of Texas Press, 1976
  8. A primer in lunar geology, NASA TM-X-62359, 1974
  9. Multi-ring basins: Formations and evolutions, Pergamon Press, 1981
  10. Geological implications of impacts of large asteroids and comets on the Earth, Geological Society of America Special Paper 190, 1982
  11. JPL Small-Body Database http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi, Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  12. "Distinguished Scientist Award". hvis.org. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  13. "Geological Society of America - GSA Division Awards". geosociety.org. Retrieved January 12, 2015.