Flight Dynamics Engineer

Analytical Mechanics Associates•Hampton, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc. (AMA) of Hampton, VA is actively seeking a motivated and experienced Engineer to provide support for flight dynamics/mechanics, modeling and simulation, and guidance, navigation, and controls in the area of planetary and human spaceflight. This position supports projects in the flight dynamics discipline at NASA Langley Research Center which may include simulation of aerospace vehicles in many phases of flight including launch, entry, aerobraking, aerocapture, interplanetary, and under parachute. Relevant skills include orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, trajectory design and optimization, and atmospheric flight modeling and simulation. The selected candidate will provide expertise for a wide range of customer flight mechanics needs, supporting both analysis and research and development requests. The work will require candidates to provide deep technical solutions while also collaborating with engineering partners to facilitate integrated solutions for our customers’ hardest problems. The group regularly interacts with many customers at NASA Ames, Marshall, Johnson, Kennedy, and others as well as outside organizations such as JPL and APL.

Requirements

B.S. in Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering or equivalent (minimum)
Experience/familiarity with flight mechanics, control systems, and dynamics simulation is critical.
Strong background in one or more of the following areas: entry descent and landing (EDL) design and analysis, launch vehicle analysis, flight testing including post-flight data analysis, simulation development, trajectory optimization, orbital dynamics, parameter identification.
Must be able to conduct code development, debugging, unit testing, and version control.
Background in multi-body dynamics and/or subsystem modeling is important.
Must possess strong written and oral communication skills.
Should be able to look at existing components or systems, understand how they work, and know what changes need to be made to satisfy requirements.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering, physics or applied mathematics, or related disciplines is strongly desired.
Experience with Matlab/Simulink, FORTRAN, C programming, and NASA's Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2).
Graduate level course work, research and/or experience in one or more of the following areas: orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, ascent trajectory modeling, hypersonic flight simulation, optimal control, flight mechanics, and/or trajectory modeling and simulation.
Experience using or building analysis software to combine numerical methods, orbital or flight mechanics, and optimization approaches for launch vehicles, spacecraft, or reentry vehicles.
Experience with non-linear programming, direct methods, gradient-based optimization, parameter optimization, genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, heuristic optimization methods, indirect methods, and/or calculus of variations.
Advanced algorithm development skills to include parallel processing and scripting experience.

Responsibilities

Modeling and analysis of aerospace vehicles
Performance evaluation (3-DOF, 6-DOF, and multi-DOF for multiple body interactions)
Trajectory optimization
Vehicle Stability
Vehicle and system robustness analysis
Guidance and control system development
Navigation filter design
Simulation development
Monte Carlo and uncertainty quantification analysis
Perform software documentation and contribute to design reviews, sprint planning, and technical reporting