NASA Postdoctoral Program: Optics - Advanced X-Ray Optics

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 X-ray optics research to advance the field of X-ray astronomy. The research will explore promising avenues for achieving higher angular resolution in X-ray optics, support mission and telescope design including ray tracing and optical assembly design, and X-ray calibration and testing including metrology. The work entails analysis of factors limiting mirrors made with existing technologies and investigations of modified or new approaches that will enable high-throughput, very lightweight, meter-class optics with arc-second or better angular resolution. The position is located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in the field of Astrophysics.