NASA Postdoctoral Program - High Performance and Compact UV Camera and Spectrometer

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 developing UV instrumentation for planetary science missions. The research involves working on all aspects of technology and system-level development for a modular camera and spectrometer that will enable higher performance in a more compact form factor. The work includes advancing ultraviolet imaging spectrometry and UV spectroscopy by making significant leaps in UV detection technology in terms of quantum efficiency, dynamic range, operational streamlining, reliability, and fabrication simplicity. This research builds on the success of UV instruments aboard missions like Hubble Space Telescope, New Horizons, Cassini, and Rosetta, which have been invaluable for magnetospheric studies, water detection, surface studies, and atmospheric phenomena. The fellow will collaborate with researchers at JPL, University of Arizona, University of Colorado, Columbia, Caltech, and other institutions, working in a team environment and contributing to new research directions.