NASA Postdoctoral Program - PSTAR: Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented U.S. and non-U.S. 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 Planetary Science analog-mission research, addressing the need for integrated interdisciplinary field experiments as an integral part of preparation for future human and robotic missions. Future astrobiological research associated with Solar System exploration requires the development of relevant, miniaturized instrumentation capable of extensive operations on lunar, asteroid, and planetary surfaces throughout the Solar System. The PSTAR program includes investigations focused on exploring relevant environments on Earth in order to develop a sound technical and scientific basis to conduct astrobiological research on other Solar System bodies. Selected fellows are expected to attend the Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) and/or the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) using the travel funds that are conferred as part of the NPP award.