ORAU
Phasing of the Habitable Worlds Observatory Mirror
ORAU, Pasadena, California, United States, 91122
Phasing of the Habitable Worlds Observatory Mirror
1 month ago Be among the first 25 applicants Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Reference Code
0288-NPP-NOV25-JPL-TechDev
How To Apply
All applications must be submitted in Zintellect
Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)
A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:
Research proposal Three letters of recommendation Official doctoral transcript documents
Application Deadline
11/1/2025 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description
About the
NASA Postdoctoral Program
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.
Description:
Habitable World Observatory will be a NASA’s flagship mission designed specifically to identify potentially habitable exoplanets, closely examining their atmospheres to determine if life could possibly exist. There are several different telescope architectures under study, but all of them are segmented, where the primary mirror is composed of many different mirrors. This is similar to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but the segments need to be aligned in rigid body degrees of freedom to produce a wavefront error on the order of nanometers with a stability of pico-meters. This will involve the use of novel technologies such as edge sensors and laser metrology, and a cascading series of algorithms and control loops that takes the telescope from an unaligned state through several intermediate states to the final aligned state.
One way of reducing risk for the development of the telescope is to test algorithms and instrumentation on a ground-based segmented telescope such as Keck Observatory and validate models of the system’s performance. We welcome applicants that are interested in determining how to align and control the HWO telescope. Possible areas of study are modeling the Keck telescope, its adaptive optics system, control systems and a science instrument. This would feed into on-sky tests and potential control algorithms for the primary mirror and adaptive optics deformable mirror. Other possibilities are proposing the use of existing instrumentation to test other aspects of the proposed wavefront sensing and control architecture for HWO.
The HWO team spans many NASA centers and outside organizations. The applicant would be a part of this team located at JPL. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with fellow researchers at JPL, GSFC, Keck and other partner organizations.
Field of Science:
Technology Development
Advisors:
Lewis Roberts
lewis.c.roberts@jpl.nasa.gov
(818) 354-2503
Questions about this opportunity?
Please email npp@orau.org
Qualifications
A Ph.D. in a relevant degree such as astronomy, optical sciences, etc. Applicants should have experience in phasing segmented telescopes either via modeling or in practice, or experience in optical modeling of some aspect of wavefront sensing and control.
Point of Contact
Mikeala
Eligibility Requirements
Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen Degree: Doctoral Degree.
Seniority level
Seniority level Internship Employment type
Employment type Full-time Job function
Job function Other Industries Government Administration Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at ORAU by 2x Get notified about new Phasing of the Habitable Worlds Observatory Mirror jobs in
Pasadena, CA . We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
1 month ago Be among the first 25 applicants Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Reference Code
0288-NPP-NOV25-JPL-TechDev
How To Apply
All applications must be submitted in Zintellect
Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)
A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:
Research proposal Three letters of recommendation Official doctoral transcript documents
Application Deadline
11/1/2025 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description
About the
NASA Postdoctoral Program
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.
Description:
Habitable World Observatory will be a NASA’s flagship mission designed specifically to identify potentially habitable exoplanets, closely examining their atmospheres to determine if life could possibly exist. There are several different telescope architectures under study, but all of them are segmented, where the primary mirror is composed of many different mirrors. This is similar to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but the segments need to be aligned in rigid body degrees of freedom to produce a wavefront error on the order of nanometers with a stability of pico-meters. This will involve the use of novel technologies such as edge sensors and laser metrology, and a cascading series of algorithms and control loops that takes the telescope from an unaligned state through several intermediate states to the final aligned state.
One way of reducing risk for the development of the telescope is to test algorithms and instrumentation on a ground-based segmented telescope such as Keck Observatory and validate models of the system’s performance. We welcome applicants that are interested in determining how to align and control the HWO telescope. Possible areas of study are modeling the Keck telescope, its adaptive optics system, control systems and a science instrument. This would feed into on-sky tests and potential control algorithms for the primary mirror and adaptive optics deformable mirror. Other possibilities are proposing the use of existing instrumentation to test other aspects of the proposed wavefront sensing and control architecture for HWO.
The HWO team spans many NASA centers and outside organizations. The applicant would be a part of this team located at JPL. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with fellow researchers at JPL, GSFC, Keck and other partner organizations.
Field of Science:
Technology Development
Advisors:
Lewis Roberts
lewis.c.roberts@jpl.nasa.gov
(818) 354-2503
Questions about this opportunity?
Please email npp@orau.org
Qualifications
A Ph.D. in a relevant degree such as astronomy, optical sciences, etc. Applicants should have experience in phasing segmented telescopes either via modeling or in practice, or experience in optical modeling of some aspect of wavefront sensing and control.
Point of Contact
Mikeala
Eligibility Requirements
Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen Degree: Doctoral Degree.
Seniority level
Seniority level Internship Employment type
Employment type Full-time Job function
Job function Other Industries Government Administration Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at ORAU by 2x Get notified about new Phasing of the Habitable Worlds Observatory Mirror jobs in
Pasadena, CA . We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
#J-18808-Ljbffr