Research Assistant

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

Job Summary

The Division of Geological and Planetary Science is seeking a Research Assistant to be part of the support of NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Mission, whose goal is to send a satellite to the moon. This is a paid staff internship. Mission details are available at trailblazer.caltech.edu .

The Lunar Trailblazer team is seeking assistance in a number of areas that include mission operations systems, building spectral libraries of geological materials relevant to the Moon, geographic information systems (GIS), social media, graphic design and illustration, mission communications, and web design initiatives.

Essential Job Duties

The exact duties will depend on the candidate’s background and the needs of the Lunar Trailblazer mission at the time of application. Example tasks may include:

• Operations Center Systems: scripting, coding, and procedure documentation to support the development of operations center infrastructure, such as spacecraft simulation, spacecraft commanding, and testbed access/testing.
• Mission Communications and Graphics: production of scientific graphics, mission art, short animations, and short articles to explain measurement approaches and scientific concepts.
• Geographic Information Systems: tests of procedures for image localization and image co-registration.

The successful candidate will contribute to one or more of these aspects.

Basic Qualifications

• Completed college-level course in natural sciences, math and computer science, or visual arts.
• Basic knowledge of coding, geology, GIS, social media, graphic design, or web design principles.

Required Documents

• Resume