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 The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, and volcanic modifications of planetary surfaces. He was co-investigator to the NASA

Science Mission Directorate The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engages the United States’ science community, sponsors scientific research, and develops and deploys satellites and probes in collaboration with NA ...

spacecraft '' Deep Impact'' and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite ( LCROSS). He was awarded the Barringer Medal of the

Meteoritical Society 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 ...

in 2004 for his theoretical and experimental studies of impact craters.

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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

in 1972.

Career

He was a research associate at the

NASA Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) labora ...

. In 1976 he joined the

Lunar and Planetary Institute The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is a scientific research institute dedicated to study of the Solar System, its formation, evolution, and current state. The Institute is part of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and is sup ...

(LPI) as a Staff Scientist and

Regional Planetary Image Facility The Regional Planetary Image Facilities (RPIFs) are planetary image and data libraries located throughout the United States and abroad that are funded by the host institutions. They once had funding from NASA A network of these facilities was esta ...

(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, Chair for NASA Regional Planetary Image Facilities board, Director of NASA

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

Space Grant Consortium, and Director of the Northeast Planetary Data Center. Schultz is the author of the 1976 book ''Moon Morphology: Interpretations Based on Lunar Orbiter Photography''. He was co-editor for ''A Primer in Lunar Geology'', ''Multi-Ring Basins'', and ''Geological Implications of Impacts of Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth''.

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 Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, Mercury,

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. His contribution to cratering phenomena experimentally and in the field was recognized with the naming of the asteroid 16592 PeteSchultz in his honor.JPL Small-Body Database http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi, Retrieved October 5, 2010. 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. In 2012, Schultz was awarded the G. K. Gilbert Award by the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

Planetary Division for his outstanding contributions to the solution of a fundamental problem(s) of planetary geology.

References

External links

Brown University: Peter H. SchultzProfile from NASA Deep Impact missionBiographical sketch from NASA Deep Impact mission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Peter H. Living people American planetary scientists 1944 births Carleton College alumni Barringer Medal winners Brown University faculty

Education

Career

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links