ORAU
Solar System Exploration: Solar Wind Interaction with Weakly Magnetized Bodies
ORAU, Greenbelt, Maryland, us, 20771
Solar System Exploration: Solar Wind Interaction with Weakly Magnetized Bodies
Join to apply for the
Solar System Exploration: Solar Wind Interaction with Weakly Magnetized Bodies
role at
ORAU .
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: 3/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description The solar wind interacts with weakly or nonmagnetized bodies in a variety of manners: flow diversion resulting from mass loading caused by charge exchange and photo‑ionization of their upper atmospheres; direct interactions with ionospheric plasma; and crustal absorption where both an intrinsic magnetic field and a neural atmosphere are lacking. These processes give rise to phenomena such as bow and limb shocks, pickup ion acceleration, wave mode growth in the mass‑loaded solar wind, cometary ray structures, ionosheath plasma depletion layers, drift mirror waves, ionopause current layers, ionospheric fluxropes, nightside ionospheric holes, cometary type‑I ion tails, induced magnetic tails, and plasma wake effects. Extensive data sets from missions such as Pioneer Venus, International Cometary Explorer, Giotto, Phobos‑2, Mars Global Surveyor, and Lunar Prospector are available at LEP. Research opportunities exist for data analysis and theoretical modeling topics related to these missions.
Eligibility Requirements
Doctoral Degree
U.S. Citizens;
U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status;
Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with a valid EAD card and I‑485 or I‑589 forms in pending status.
Location Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Field of Science Planetary Science
Advisors
Mei-Ching Fok – mei-ching.h.fok@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑1083
Alex Glocer – alex.glocer-1@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑9475
Edward Sittler – Edward.C.Sittler@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑9215
Notice Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States.
A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.
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Solar System Exploration: Solar Wind Interaction with Weakly Magnetized Bodies
role at
ORAU .
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: 3/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description The solar wind interacts with weakly or nonmagnetized bodies in a variety of manners: flow diversion resulting from mass loading caused by charge exchange and photo‑ionization of their upper atmospheres; direct interactions with ionospheric plasma; and crustal absorption where both an intrinsic magnetic field and a neural atmosphere are lacking. These processes give rise to phenomena such as bow and limb shocks, pickup ion acceleration, wave mode growth in the mass‑loaded solar wind, cometary ray structures, ionosheath plasma depletion layers, drift mirror waves, ionopause current layers, ionospheric fluxropes, nightside ionospheric holes, cometary type‑I ion tails, induced magnetic tails, and plasma wake effects. Extensive data sets from missions such as Pioneer Venus, International Cometary Explorer, Giotto, Phobos‑2, Mars Global Surveyor, and Lunar Prospector are available at LEP. Research opportunities exist for data analysis and theoretical modeling topics related to these missions.
Eligibility Requirements
Doctoral Degree
U.S. Citizens;
U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status;
Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with a valid EAD card and I‑485 or I‑589 forms in pending status.
Location Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Field of Science Planetary Science
Advisors
Mei-Ching Fok – mei-ching.h.fok@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑1083
Alex Glocer – alex.glocer-1@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑9475
Edward Sittler – Edward.C.Sittler@nasa.gov – 301‑286‑9215
Notice Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States.
A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.
#J-18808-Ljbffr