NASA Postdoctoral Program - Europa's surface evolution

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 Europa's surface evolution, investigating non-tectonic surface modification processes on Europa including micrometeroid and charged particle bombardment. Topics of interest include block breakdown and regolith formation and evolution, and/or the evolution of the thermal inertia of icy surfaces and how it can be used to understand broader geologic questions. Understanding these mechanisms and rates of processes will help researchers comprehend the physical properties of Europa's surface and the various timescales over which it is modified, which will become more important with the wealth of data anticipated from Europa Clipper.