PDF versionJob Summary
The Geospace Laboratory in the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Research Astrophysicist to modify and create instrumentation to understand how neutral and/or ionized particles affect the earth's atmosphere and to pursue research that discovers, disseminates, and applies new or expanded knowledge in space plasma physics or related fields, that support NASA's Strategic Science Plan.
Major Duties
- Tailors existing instrument capabilities and develops new instrument capabilities to address problem areas recognized as being unyielding to research analysis and recognized as representing critical obstacles to scientific progress.
- Supports instrumentation development for Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) and lunar missions as well as pursuing unique and/or leading-edge technology, equipment, and systems to meet the specific mission or project requirements.
- Takes a leading experimental role working with senior instrumentalists on hardware projects, serving as the instrument representative when necessary, and participates in NASA Mission Announcement of Opportunity (AO).
- Supports hardware development for strategic missions to determine the nature, magnitude, and interrelationships of space plasma densities, temperatures, and flow velocities, neutral atom fluxes, electromagnetic field and wave properties.
- Pursues a personal research agenda that includes discovering, disseminating, and applying new or expanded knowledge in space plasma physics or related fields, to support priorities set in the Decadal Survey and in NASA?s Strategic Plan for Science.
- Publishes results in peer-reviewed literature and attends professional meetings to present new results and to participate in discussions of related efforts by other experts in the field.
Qualifications
In addition to the Basic Education Requirement, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, which has equipped you with the particular competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of the position described above.To qualify for the GS-13 grade level: One year of specialized experience at least equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to GS-12 grade level work in the Federal service defined as professional working experience building instrumentation used to measure neutral and/or ionized particles; experience researching earth/planetary atmospheres as a member of several published scientific research studies that demonstrates understanding of how neutral and/or ionized particles affect the earth's atmosphere.To qualify for the GS-14 grade level:One year of specialized experience at least equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to GS-13 grade level work in the Federal service defined as professional working experience as a Lead/ Principal Investigator (PI) researching earth/planetary atmospheres and building instrumentation that has flown on missions to measure neutral and/or ionized particles; experience as a published research scientist, well-known in the field of earth's atmosphere (e.g., has judged proposals/reviewed other research fields; invited to present at scientific conferences, etc.)
Pay Range
$102,663.00 - $157,709.00