Development of Next-Generation Thermopile Arrays for Space Applications

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

Historically for solar system exploration, thermopiles have been an ideal detector technology for thermal imagers and flown on Voyager (IRIS instrument), Viking Orbiter (IRTM), Cassini (CIRS), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MCS), and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (Diviner); however, thermopile arrays to date have been limited to several rows of 10s of pixels. These small 1D arrays flying on thermal imagers are just not good enough for the demanding future missions to primitive bodies (i.e. Trojan asteroids), planets and their satellites (i.e. Europa).

Requirements

• Doctoral Degree.
• Research proposal.
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Official doctoral transcript documents.
• Application Deadline: 11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship.
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status.
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status.

Skills

• Thermopile Array Development.
• New Surface- and Bulk-Micromachining Techniques.
• New Materials for Thermopiles.

Benefits

• One- to three-year fellowship.
• Engagement in ongoing NASA research projects.
• Opportunities to advance NASA’s missions in various scientific fields.

Pay

N/A

Schedule

N/A

Benefits

N/A

Contact Information

Point of Contact: Mikeala Email: npp@orau.org Phone: 818-354-0662 Location: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California Field of Science: Planetary Science Advisor: Matthew Kenyon (mkenyon@jpl.nasa.gov)

Eligibility

• U.S. Citizenship.
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status.
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status.

Designated Countries

A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control

Questions

Please email npp@orau.org for questions about this opportunity.