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Dr. Gregory L. Matloff, Physics Professor and NASA Consultant, Named 2008 ‘Scholar on Campus’ at New York City College of Technology
Dr. Gregory L. Matloff, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at New York City College of Technology, has been named 2008 Scholar on Campus by the College’s Professional Development Advisory Council. Dr. Matloff will deliver the Scholar on Campus Lecture, “Solar Sailing for Human Survival,” on Monday, April 14, 2008, at 5 p.m., in City Tech’s Atrium Amphitheater, 300 Jay Street (at Tillary), Downtown Brooklyn. The lecture is free and open to the general public.
In his lecture, Dr. Matloff will discuss the development of solar sail technology and the role it could play in the future exploration, mining and settlement of the solar system and interstellar space. Solar sail technology uses starlight to propel spacecraft, greatly reducing or eliminating the need for onboard fuel.
Near-term applications of this technology could assist in the deflection of threatening near-Earth objects such as the asteroid Apophis that will by-pass our planet about 20,000 miles above its surface in 2029. If its course is altered by tidal effects, Apophis could collide with Earth when it returns again in 2036. The technology also could play a major role in the exploration of the solar system in search of mineral and other resources as the supplies of these continue to deplete on Earth. Finally, solar sail technology might be our best bet for successfully completing interstellar voyages of great distance and duration when the time comes for humankind to abandon our solar system in advance of the death of our sun.
Dr. Matloff’s pioneering research has involved the development of solar sail technology, particularly in the area of near-Sun solar-sail trajectories that could ultimately enable interstellar travel. This work resulted in his 1994 guest professorship at the University of Siena in Italy, numerous citations by in-space propulsion experts, and session-chair positions at international conferences. He also has contributed to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), atmospheric modeling, space astronomy and navigation, and wind-energy studies. He has consulted for NASA on in-space propulsion systems and methods of protecting Earth from threatening objects, and the results of his research have been incorporated in NASA’s plans to probe near-interstellar space after 2020. Locally, he has served as astronomer for the New York City Department of Parks and as an environmental consultant.
A Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and an American Museum of Natural History Hayden Fellow, Dr. Matloff served on a November 2007 panel organized by Seed magazine to brief Congressional staff on a sustainable, meaningful space program. He has published more than 100 papers and six popular books on astronomy and astronautics, and was a winner of a 1998 SETI competition sponsored by the National Institute of Discovery Science. One of his early books, The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel, co-authored with MIT science writer Eugene F. Mallove, and other publications helped establish space travel as a field of applied science.
His latest book, Living Off the Land in Space, co-authored with NASA’s Les Johnson and Brooklyn artist C Bangs, will be followed soon by two others on solar sail technology and how space technology can enhance life on Earth. A third book now in development is a visionary work of both science and fiction, if not in the usual format, that looks at humankind’s future migration to another star system, where we might go, what challenges we must overcome beforehand, and in what form we might make the journey.
For additional information on the April 14 Scholar on Campus Lecture, contact Dr. Roman Kezerashvili, chair, Department of Physics, at 718.260.5277 or rkezerashvili@citytecvh.cuny.edu. Dr. Matloff may be contacted directly at gmatloff@citytech.cuny.edu.
03/24/08
