Two Research/Teaching Assistant positions are available in the Astroplorer Lab (APL) at the Dept. Mech. Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. Astroploers conduct cutting-edge research in astrodynamics, guidance, and optimization to secure and advance planetary exploration and operations, as well as to address space environment and planetary defense issues (e.g., against space debris, hazardous asteroids, and space weather effect).

Space stations and logistics hubs to be established in cislunar space, such as the Lunar Gateway, can serve as waypoints for spacecraft, facilitating transportation to the Moon, asteroids, Mars, and beyond. APL aims to develop techniques and technologies for cost-effective exploration, transportation, and resource retrieval in cislunar space. Candidates are encouraged to apply analytical astrodynamics techniques—providing insights into dynamics governed by gravitational forces (Sun, Earth, Moon, etc.)—alongside numerical and empirical machine learning methods.

Phd projects include but are not limited to:

1)   Design and optimization of spacecraft trajectories for cislunar transportation and beyond.

2)   Embedded autonomous proximity navigation system development.

3)   Space object tracking and determination of attitude and orbit.

4)   Adaptive aerobraking for both trajectory design and atmosphere study

Resources:

i. Access to the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

ii. Use of UTA’s observatory for space object tracking.

iii. Research funding for developing and testing embedded on-board navigation systems.

iv. Support for attending conferences (e.g., International Astronautical Congress, AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference).

In addition to the Graduate Assistantship, excellent U.S. candidates can compete for the Maverick Doctoral Bridge Fellowship , and international candidates can compete for the Maverick Academic Scholarship .

Dr. Hongru Chen , the group lead, collaborates with JAXA (Japan’s space agency) and Paris Observatory on mission studies for Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) and Venusian EnVision missions. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the emerging cislunar economy, near-future planetary exploration, and space sustainability. Applicants should meet the minimum entry requirements for this position.

Essential skills:

·        Code programming (MATLAB, C/C++, Python, and/or similar)

Desired skills:

·        Knowledge of Astrodynamics/ Orbital/Celestial mechanics

·        Knowledge of optimization techniques

·        Experiences with hands-on experiments and hardware development

·        Experiences with machine learning

For details about this position and application, see https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/engineering/academics/departments/mechanical-aerospace/research/discipline-committees . For inquiries, ask [email protected]

To apply for this position, please fill out the PhD pre-application form ( https://common.forms.uta.edu/view.php?id=1332433 ) and enter Hongru Chen as “Supervising Professor you plan to work with” on page 1.