Our team and mission

This position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) – Noordwijk, Netherlands

Under the direct authority of the Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, the Electrical Department is responsible for executing activities in the following domains: electromagnetics, antenna systems, space environment, power system, data handling for payloads and platforms, computers and microelectronics, communications and navigation payloads and end-to-end systems.

The Department manages the corresponding technical laboratories and facilities, elaborates Engineering Standards and is responsible for technology activities for the technical discipline areas of the Department.

In executing these functions, the Department is supported by the:

• Data Systems, Microelectronics & Components Technology Division
• Radio Frequency Payloads and Technology Division
• Power Systems, EMC and Space Environment Division
• Radio Frequency Systems Division
• Lead Engineers

For further information visit our web site: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic: Lunar Dust Environment Scenarios Definition for Exploration systems risk assessment

The Space Environments and Effects Section supports the development of ESA missions and programmes by investigating the space environments within which they will operate, assessing likely effects and defining mitigation methods. Environments addressed include: High-energy radiation from radiation belts, solar-particle events and cosmic rays; plasmas encountered in planetary magnetospheres, dusty plasmas and charged dust environment encountered at airless bodies surfaces or around comets, the solar wind and artificially-generated charges and fields on spacecraft; micro-meteoroids and non-trackable debris as well as planetary atmospheres. The Section also initiates and manages related technology R&D activities. See this website for more details.

The targeted subject fits in the context of current Lunar exploration missions studies and relates to the definition of Lunar Dust Environment Scenarios for Exploration systems risk assessment.

The primary goal will be to define and study a number of typical environmental scenarios including lunar regolith charging and dust transport and deposition on systems leading to potentially critical effects (e.g. ESDs). Such scenarios need to consider possible topological surface features (e.g. crater rims, boulders) and different illumination conditions encountered by future landed hardware/astronauts. To this aim, the Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software (SPIS) tool will likely be utilized, combined with analytical models where relevant. The end product will be a set of boundary conditions and environmental specifications applicable to exploration projects and industrial studies. In addition, contributions to ongoing experiments in the field of lunar dusty plasma environment interactions with materials and systems (e.g. power degradation due to deposited dust on solar cells), helping in understanding the behavior of lunar simulants in experimentally simulated lunar environment will be possible.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

You must have student status and be enrolled at university for the entire duration of the internship. You should preferably be in your final or second to last year of a university course at master’s level in a technical or scientific discipline.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

Additional Requirements:

• Space of Plasma Physics
• Numerical modelling