Intern in the Elecrical Department - Space Environments and Effects Section

• Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
• Type of appointment: Intern
• Directorate: Technology, Engineering and Quality

Intern in the Elecrical Department - Space Environments and Effects Section

Our team and mission

The Space Environments and Effects Section (TEC-EPS) 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; the solar wind and artificially generated charges and fields on spacecraft; micro-meteoroids and non trackable debris; planetary and lunar dust; and planetary atmospheres. The Section also initiates and manages a wide range of related modelling, software and hardware R&D activities.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

With an increasing worldwide interest in Lunar Exploration, ESA is engaged in the study of several surface missions, including major undertakings such as the Argonaut mission and the deployment of surface payloads, planned to operate from 2030 on. In this context, mission preparation relies on meaningful evaluation of the detrimental effects of the near surface environment on surface assets, as well as impact on payloads response, including near surface plasma and lunar dust.

The internship will focus on supporting the team work on numerical modelling of the variability of near surface environments (plasma, transported dust and regolith behavior) along the Lunar orbit and their interactions with systems of interest, in the context of missions currently under study. You are expected to learn the basic physics associated with the processes at play and run simulations using state-of-the-art diagnostic software tools used in the Agency, Academia and Industry. Applicability of the approach is expected to be generalised to other airless bodies of interest for ESA science and exploration programmes.

Behavioural competencies

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

Education

You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of university course at Master's level. In addition, you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

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

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

Nationality

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.