Modeling of Planetary Thermospheres and Exospheres

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on modeling the thermal structure and atmospheric escape within the transition region of planetary thermospheres and exospheres for bodies such as Titan, Callisto, Mars, Pluto and early Moon. The research employs theoretical models using principles of rarefied gas dynamics and techniques such as the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to simulate atmospheres and compare with data from missions such as MAVEN, Cassini, Clipper and New Horizons. The research includes updating existing DSMC models to carry out multi-dimensional studies and include photochemistry in the rarefied region of atmospheres. The DSMC model will be coupled with hydrodynamic, diffusion or photochemical models to consistently model the effect of non-equilibrium conditions and escape occurring in the transition region of the broader atmosphere. The position is located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.