Application for Fall/Winter 2022 Internships: PCC-Caltech Lunar Trailblazer Student Collaboration Internship (due August 28, 2022)

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Pasadena City College and Caltech students have the opportunity to participate in the planning and development of NASA's Lunar Trailblazer Mission, which is a satellite that will map water on the surface of the Moon. As part of the mission's NASA-funded Student Collaboration, students at PCC and Caltech participate in all aspects and all mission phases. We are currently in Phase D (System Assembly, Integration and Test, and Launch) in progress to a June 2023 launch.

The Trailblazer team is currently accepting applications for motivated interns for part-time (5-10hr/week) internships during the school term. For PCC students, there is an option to receive 1 PCC credit for at least 75 hrs of work as a paid Caltech staff member. We are currently seeking interns for fall/winter 2022-2023.

Exact duties will depend on the candidate's background and interests, and the needs of the Lunar Trailblazer mission at the time of application. Areas of particular need include roles in

1) Operations Systems: design, scripting, coding, and procedure documentation to support the development of operations center infrastructure, such as spacecraft simulation, spacecraft commanding, and testbed access/testing (suggested background: CS courses or prior coding/scripting experience)

2) Science Operations System: design and test of procedures for image localization, image co-registration, and image calibration pipeline (suggested background: GIS coursework; coding/scripting experience)

3) Mission Communications & Graphics: production of scientific graphics, mission art, short animations, and short articles to explain measurement approaches and scientific concepts (suggested background: some physical sciences coursework and art/graphics experience/courses or writing experience)

Applications are due August 28, 2022.

The application has 5 sections: (1) basic applicant information and contact information for 2 references, (2) a cover letter, expressing interest in one or more role areas, (3) a resume/CV, (4) unofficial college transcript(s), and (5) a digital portfolio of relevant works and/or answers to the technical questions, if applicable, see Part 5 below. Parts (2)-(5) are pdfs you must prepare beforehand then upload at submission.

All applications will be evaluated, and we will interview and contact references for a shortlist of candidates. Successful candidates will have completed college-level courses in engineering, the natural sciences, math and computer science, or visual arts. Some basic knowledge of astronomy, geology, GIS or social media, graphic design, and web design principles is a plus. Priority will be given to students with relevant coursework and a strong portfolio or answers to technical questions. We will likely accept 5 students in this round.

Further questions? Please contact the points of contact at your institution:
Prof. Bethany Ehlmann, Professor of Planetary Science, Caltech (ehlmann@caltech.edu)
Prof. Martha House, Natural Sciences, PCC (mahouse@pasadena.edu)
Prof. Lynora Rogacs, Visual Arts and Media Studies, PCC (larogacs@pasadena.edu)

Note that this internship is open only to current PCC and Caltech undergraduate students. The Caltech WAVE and SURF programs are open to all undergraduate students. Other Lunar Trailblazer investigators may have internship opportunities at their institutions.

For more information about Lunar Trailblazer
https://trailblazer.caltech.edu

PART I: BASIC INFORMATION

Name *

Email *

Status *

Pasadena City College student

Caltech student

Concentration/Major *

Citizenship/Residency *

U.S. citizen or permanent resident

Other:

Interest in 5-10hrs/week in Fall (~late September to December)? *

Yes

Interest in 5-10hrs/week in Winter (~January to March)? *

Yes

Interest in roles? *

Mission Operations Systems

Mission Graphics/Art

Mission Communications (web article writing)

Geographic Information Systems

Image Calibration and Optimization

Other:

Required

Contact information for Two References (Name, position, email)

Programming environments and competency (optional; not required for Mission Art/Communications) *

Experienced

Some/Moderate

Limited

None

Matlab

Python

ASI-STK

Java

SQL

Yaml

Programming environments and competency - Additional Comments (optional)

PART II: COVER LETTER

Please describe your reasons for seeking the opportunity and any prior relevant experiences

Please upload your cover letter in a single pdf file, naming the file Lastname_Firstname_TrailblazerApp_CoverLetter.pdf (substituting in your last name and first name). Please upload by sending your file to Lunar_T.gy7volibsbpfzac9@u.box.com (note: nothing in the body of the email will be saved, only your attachment will be recorded). Write 'done <date,time of upload>' in this field when you have uploaded your answers. *

PART III: RESUME or CURRICULUM VITAE

Please upload your resume/CV as a pdf, naming the file Lastname_Firstname_TrailblazerApp_CV.pdf (substituting in your last name and first name) Please upload by sending your file to Lunar_T.gy7volibsbpfzac9@u.box.com (note: nothing in the body of the email will be saved, only your attachment will be recorded). Write 'done <date,time of upload>' in this field when you have uploaded your CV. *

PART IV: UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Please upload your unofficial transcript as a pdf, naming the file Lastname_Firstname_TrailblazerApp_Transcript.pdf (substituting in your last name and first name) Please upload by sending your file to Lunar_T.gy7volibsbpfzac9@u.box.com (note: nothing in the body of the email will be saved, only your attachment will be recorded). Write 'done <date,time of upload>' in this field when you have uploaded your CV. *

PART Va: PORTFOLIO EXAMPLES (optional but highly encouraged for Mission Communications or GIS applicants)

Please provide examples of your art, journalism, or GIS work in a single pdf file.

Please make sure you include any information to make the content is easily readable/understandable.

PART Vb: TECHNICAL QUESTIONS (optional but highly encouraged for Operations Center applicants; useful in demonstrating coding skills for GIS applicants)

Please provide answers to the technical questions below in a single pdf file in the order shown.

As with many things in life, presentation style matters. Please make sure you include all information requested and that it is easily readable.

Please answer or address the following to the best of your ability. As there are different roles we are seeking amongst the technical operations team, do not be discouraged if you have no experience at all with the questions or do not know if you have the right answer. Just take your best guess, articulating your reasoning and steps to reach your conclusions. Though we will work as a team on ops, here we are assess your own analytical and technical skills, so please work individually without consulting others. We are considerably more interested in seeing how you reason and explain your approach than actually receiving perfect answers.

1) Create a Matlab, Python, or other coding language script to analyze this spacecraft data file from a solar-powered spacecraft in an Earth orbit (data at Caltech box.com link below). Provide your commented code and an appropriately annotated plot of the data indicating any noteworthy events. Describe what you think the spacecraft may be doing based on the data.
data link (.csv file): https://caltech.box.com/s/i4p7x8t1qdh7rgepceoybxtdf0fe9cof

2) An equatorial orbiting spacecraft at 325 km altitude has an onboard 4-megapixel camera with a 6 degree (measured diagonal) field of view, and a mission to photograph waterways around California. What concerns do you have with respect to operations given this payload and mission?

Please upload your answers to Part V in a single pdf file, naming the file Lastname_Firstname_SmallsatsApp_Portfolio.pdf or Lastname_Firstname_SmallsatsApp_TechQs.pdf (substituting in your last name and first name). Please upload by sending your file to Lunar_T.gy7volibsbpfzac9@u.box.com (note: nothing in the body of the email will be saved, only your attachment will be recorded). Write 'done <date,time of upload>' in this field when you have uploaded your answers. *

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