Internal Research Fellow - Noordwijk, Nederland - European Space Agency

European Space Agency

Geverifieerd bedrijf

Noordwijk, Nederland

3 weken geleden

Geplaatst door:

Daan Van den Berg

werver van beBee

Beschrijving

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Water Ice Contamination in Spacecraft

Job Requisition ID:18686
Closing Date:11 June :59 CET/CEST
Publication:External Only
Type of Contract:Internal Research Fellow
Date Posted:21 May 2024- Internal Research Fellowship Opportunity in the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality. The Internal Research Fellow will be based in the Materials and Chemistry Section, Technical Reliability and Quality Division, Product Assurance and Safety Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.- This post is classified F2 on the Coordinated Organisations' salary scale.
Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Our team and mission

The Materials Physics and Chemistry Section operates state-of-the-art space simulation facilities, relating for example to vacuum, temperature and EM and particle radiation, as well as instruments to characterise physical and chemical properties in the Materials and EEE Components Laboratory.

It provides quality and engineering support to all ESA projects and development programmes in materials physics and chemistry, the associated processes and environmental effects.

The Section's activities include:
- physical analysis and characterisation of materials, including phase transition thermo-mechanical analysis, thermo-optical analysis, thermal analysis, surface analyses such as electron-based imaging techniques, for example SEM/EDX/WDX, X-ray techniques, such as X-ray tomography, and other non-destructive evaluation techniques;
- chemical analysis and characterisation of materials, covering all types of spectroscopy, for example UV-VIS

NIR,GCMS, NMR, FTIR, Raman, thermal analysis, surface analysis such as XPS, EDX, WDX, and contact angle;

- cleanliness and contamination control, including lab work focusing on contamination monitoring, materials outgassing characterisation, surface analysis and evaluation of contamination impacts on performance;
- environmental evaluation (ground/space effects), including lab testing work and support of non-conformance reviews and requests for approval; this includes the evaluation of degradation effects due to long-term storage, entry/re-entry assessment of physical/chemical processes and other processes;
- performance prediction and verification, including in-orbit and post-flight analysis, of materials and associated processes.

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeshipIn particular, your research activities will involve:

performing state of the art literature reviews of water ice contamination in spacecraft, including the physics and chemistry of ice formation, the causes of water ice formation, such as materials outgassing, view factors and thermal conditions, and the associated effects, for example absorption and scattering;

- implementing an experimental test programme to investigate and better understand the formation of water ice contamination on representative spacecraft optical surfaces, utilising state-of-the-art equipment available in the ESTEC Materials Laboratories (see for example: EuCLID ice contamination testing, S.

Szmolka et al, ISMSE15/ICPMSE 13 IOP conference series 2023, doi:10.1088/ X/1287/1/012028);
- designing new experimental test set-ups and devising new test methods to improve the existing techniques;
- performing theoretical predictions and modelling to compare with the experimental results;
- investigating potential mitigation strategies, for example ice repellent coatings, moisture-free materials and optimisation of design.

You will have the opportunity to work with other colleagues and teams within ESA with an interest in the topic, such as contamination and materials engineers, optical performance engineers and project study scientists.

Further background information can also be found in the following articles:

Technical competencies
Knowledge relevant to the field of research
Research/publication record
Ability to conduct research autonomously
Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities
Ability to gather and share relevant information
General interest in space and space research

Behavioural competencies
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

Additional requirements
- strong experience with experimental testing and measurement techniques for thin film materials analysis, vacuum testing and optical performance testing and familiarity with the different types of relevant instrumentation, such as spectrometers, detectors, materials surface analysis and chemical analysis equipment and quartz crystal microbalances
- strong experience with numerical modelling and simulation of thin film effects on optical surfaces, including experience with commercial thin film software and/or development of standalone software

The working languages of the Agency