Superstrings and Other Things

Carlos I. Calle, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist at NASA Kennedy Space Center and the founder and director of NASA’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory. He holds a doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics from Ohio University. He is the recipient of numerous NASA awards, including the Spaceflight Awareness Award in 2003 for exceptional contributions to the space program. With his laboratory staff, he has developed new testing techniques for the Space Shuttle Thermal Control System and for the thermal shrouds on the International Space Station modules.

Dr. Calle has been working on the physical properties of the lunar and Martian soil and is currently designing and building instrumentation for future planetary exploration missions. As one of the world experts on the electrostatic properties of the lunar and Martian dust, he has been working on methods to keep dust from the space suits and equipment being planned for the lunar exploration missions.

His earlier research work involved the development of a theretical model for a microscopic treatment of nuclear scattering. He also introduced one-particle excitation operators in a separable particle-hole Hamiltonian for the calculation of particle excitations.

Dr. Calle is also the author of Einstein for Dummies, an introduction to Einstein's life and work, published as part of the best selling Dummies series to commemorate the centennary of Einstein's Year of Wonders. He has authored over one hundred and fifty scientific papers in nuclear physics, relativity, particle electrostatics, the properties of the Martian soil, and the lunar surface dust. He has lectured on physics and relativity at several colleges and universities and is a regular speaker at the physics department at Florida Institute of Technology.