Space Environment Engineer

Mclaurin Aerospace • Houston, TX

6d • Onsite

About The Position

McLaurin is hiring a Space Environment Engineer to join its JETS II contract team at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, supporting NASA programs and deep-space exploration efforts. The role supports the definition of natural and induced space environments through multidisciplinary analysis and modeling, in collaboration with NASA civil servants and designated contractors. It also includes developing and updating models of processes relevant to spacecraft environments and assessing how those environments affect spacecraft hardware and payloads.

The engineer will analyze contamination sources and transport, including lunar dust, materials outgassing, vacuum venting, and rocket engine and thruster plumes. The work also includes examining contamination-related optical property impacts and exposure to orbital and lunar surface conditions, such as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation and atomic oxygen; modeling plasma effects, spacecraft charging, and radiation effects on hardware; and assessing hardware compatibility with natural and induced environments.

The position provides systems engineering support for space environment requirements and verification planning and activities throughout a program. It includes conducting trade studies, identifying risks and mitigations, evaluating induced environmental hazards between vehicles, participating in hazard and risk reviews and program milestone reviews, and performing other duties as required. Candidates may be considered at different advertised levels depending on their experience, requirements, and business needs. U.S. citizenship and the ability to pass a comprehensive security background investigation are required.

Requirements

• Typically, a bachelor's degree in Engineering and 5–10 years of related experience; license or certification may be required.
• At least 3 years of related work experience or an equivalent combination of technical education and experience, such as an M.S. or Ph.D.
• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite.
• Experience in scientific computer programming and software development for analytical and physics-based modeling and simulation.
• Strong analytical and computational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary field.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to pass a comprehensive security background investigation.

Nice To Haves

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Engineering (Aerospace, Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, or Nuclear), Physics, or Chemistry.
• At least 5 years of related work experience or an equivalent combination of technical education and experience, such as an M.S. or Ph.D.
• Experience with NASA programs and projects, such as Gateway and Artemis.
• Experience with external contamination or molecular deposition analysis codes and tools, including CAD, meshing, and visualization software such as Matlab, Python, Creo, NX, FEMAP, Tecplot, ParaView, or LS Dyna.
• Experience with materials outgassing, molecular transport, thin film deposition, optical property degradation, molecular gas dynamics, or multiphase flows.
• Experience with hypergolic and Hall Effect thruster operation and associated plume characteristics.
• Experience with NASA and industry standards relating to contamination control and experimental characterization of materials outgassing, such as ASTM E1559.
• Knowledge of natural and induced space environments and related materials effects, including thermal vacuum stability, ionizing and ultraviolet radiation, plasma charging, atomic oxygen, and thermal cycling.
• Knowledge of lunar dust characteristics and effects, including optical property and impact damage assessments, and of the lunar surface environment.
• Knowledge of GCR, solar wind and plasma, CMEs/SEPs, and solar irradiance.
• Experience with plasma charging and ionizing radiation analyses or related tools, such as NASCAP, SPIS, IRI, AE9/AP9, CREME96, SHIELDOSE, ESP/PHYCHIC, MCNP, HZTRAN, or SPENVIS.
• Experience with the Linux operating system.

Responsibilities

• Support NASA programs in defining natural and induced space environments through multidisciplinary analysis and modeling, in collaboration with NASA civil servants and designated contractors.
• Develop and update semi-empirical and theoretical models of processes relevant to spacecraft natural and induced environments.
• Analyze and model molecular and particulate contamination sources, including lunar dust, and their transport from materials outgassing, vacuum venting, and rocket engine and thruster plumes onto spacecraft, elements, and payloads.
• Analyze optical property impacts from molecular and particulate contamination and exposure to orbital and lunar surface environments, including ultraviolet radiation, ionizing radiation, and atomic oxygen.
• Analyze and model plasma effects, spacecraft charging, radiation transport, and radiation effects on hardware.
• Assess spacecraft hardware compatibility with natural and induced space environments.
• Provide systems engineering support in developing space environment requirements and verification plans, and conduct requirements and verification activities throughout program life cycles.
• Conduct systems engineering trade studies to identify risks and mitigations, evaluate induced environmental hazards between vehicles, and participate in hazard and risk reviews.
• Participate in programmatic milestone reviews.
• Perform other duties as required.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Positive work-life balance
• Employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, accidental death and dismemberment, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance
• 11 paid holidays annually
• Generous paid time off
• 401(k) with employer match after 12 months of service
• Education assistance
• Relocation assistance, if applicable

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level