(Isstories Editorial):- Durango, Colorado Dec 22, 2025 (Issuewire.com) – Magna Petra Corp., a pioneering lunar resources company focused on the prospecting, extraction, and return of critical isotopes from the Moon, today announced the appointments of Dr. Philip T. Metzger and Dr. Thomas R. Spilker to its Scientific Advisory Board.
Magna Petra is building the foundational supply chain for helium-3 and other rare lunar isotopes that are essential to the future of nuclear fusion energy, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced national security applications. As global investment accelerates across fusion and deep-tech sectors, the availability of fuel and enabling resources has emerged as a strategic constraint. Strengthening the company’s scientific leadership with world-class scientific, engineering, and spaceflight competency is therefore not optional–it is mission-critical.
The addition of Dr. Metzger and Dr. Spilker brings together decades of unmatched experience across lunar surface science, regolith physics, deep-space mission architecture, and planetary systems engineering. Their combined expertise reinforces Magna Petra’s commitment to technical rigor, execution credibility, and long-term leadership in the lunar resource economy.
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Dr. Philip T. Metzger
Dr. Philip T. Metzger joins Magna Petra’s Scientific Advisory Board as one of the world’s leading authorities on lunar regolith physics, surface systems, and extraterrestrial resource economics.
Over a distinguished 30-year career at NASA, Dr. Metzger led the agency’s work on rocket blast effects for human-class missions and played a central role in architecture studies for the Lunar Architecture Team, Mars Architecture Team, and the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group. He also contributed to the development of NASA’s technology roadmap for planetary surface technologies.
Dr. Metzger has led or supported the development of critical lunar surface systems, including extraterrestrial excavation technologies, regolith conveyance systems, dust-tolerant quick-disconnects, lunar and Martian landing pads, and surface construction and processing technologies. He is a co-founder of NASA’s biannual Workshop on Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration and a founding member of the ASCE Technical Committee for Regolith Operations, Mobility, and Robotics.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Central Florida.
Dr. Metzger’s expertise in how lunar soil behaves–and how it can be responsibly interacted with at scale–directly underpins Magna Petra’s non-destructive, energy-efficient approach to isotope collection on the Moon.
Dr. Thomas R. Spilker
Dr. Thomas R. Spilker joins Magna Petra’s Scientific Advisory Board as a distinguished Space Flight Mission Architect with more than two decades of leadership at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Dr. Spilker’s career spans some of humanity’s most consequential deep-space missions, including Voyager, Cassini, and Genesis. He also served as a Science Co-Investigator for the MIRO instrument on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission.
During his tenure at JPL, Dr. Spilker rose to the role of Principal Space Flight Mission Architect, where he was widely recognized for introducing technical and process innovations across multiple disciplines. Most notably, he was instrumental in creating JPL’s Rapid Mission Architecture process–dramatically reducing the cost and time required for early-phase mission assessments.
Since retiring from JPL in 2012, Dr. Spilker has continued to shape the future of space exploration as an independent consultant and as Chief Space Systems Architect at ABOVE: Space Development Corp. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University’s Space Telecommunications and Radioscience Laboratory.
Dr. Spilker’s deep experience in mission design, risk reduction, and systems-level execution is directly aligned with Magna Petra’s strategy of deploying modular, repeatable, and scalable lunar operations.
Building the Advisory Bench for a Multi-Decade Mission
“Magna Petra is solving a problem that sits at the intersection of energy security, advanced computing, and planetary science,” said Jeffrey Max, CEO of Magna Petra. “That requires not only bold vision, but the kind of scientific and operational credibility that can only be earned over decades of real-world execution. Dr. Metzger and Dr. Spilker represent the highest standard of that pedigree.”
With these appointments, Magna Petra further solidifies its position as a technically grounded, execution-driven leader in the emerging lunar economy–focused not on short-term speculation, but on building the long-term infrastructure required to power a clean-energy and AI-driven future.
About Magna Petra Corp.
Magna Petra Corp. is a lunar resources company focused on the prospecting, extraction, and return of helium-3 and other critical isotopes from the lunar surface. By combining proprietary extraction technologies, advanced AI-driven modeling, and deep partnerships across the global space ecosystem, Magna Petra is establishing the foundational fuel and materials supply chain required for next-generation fusion energy, quantum computing, and advanced national security systems.
© 2025 Magna Petra Corp.
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