Demo

OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Greenbelt, MD Intern
POSTED ON 9/12/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 11/1/2026

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Description:

Research and development opportunities exist at NASA in the optical design and modeling of advanced space flight instrumentation for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Mission support involves performing optical design trades, detailed optical system and component design, tolerancing, performance analyses and modeling, and specifying optical components for fabrication. Current interests include the design and modeling of centered and unobscured all-reflective and catadioptric optical systems, freeform optics, lens system design, coronagraph and star-shade design and modeling, spectroscopic instrumentation design and analysis, wavefront sensing and control of active optical systems, and polarization ray tracing including birefringent materials. Additional research topics consist of gradient index optics, holograms and holographic optical elements design, wave propagation, optomechanical design, stray light design and analysis, edge sensors, laser metrology trusses and in-process optical testing. Extensive computational resources and metrology test facilities are available for post-doc work here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Field of Science: Astrophysics

Advisors:

Joseph Howard
joseph.m.howard@nasa.gov
(301) 286-0690

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. ?

Eligibility is currently open to:

  • U.S. Citizens;

  • U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);

  • Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and,

  • Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

Questions about this opportunity? Please email npp@orau.org

Hourly Wage Estimation for OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY in Greenbelt, MD
$64.00 to $77.00
If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$87,649 - $104,049
Income Estimation: 
$52,566 - $63,317
Income Estimation: 
$48,292 - $59,879
Income Estimation: 
$95,171 - $112,687

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs with skills like those required for the OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY.

Click the checkbox next to the jobs that you are interested in.

  • Clinical Data Analysis Skill

    • Income Estimation: $90,653 - $117,475
    • Income Estimation: $103,285 - $132,090
  • Clinical Data Management Skill

    • Income Estimation: $90,653 - $117,475
    • Income Estimation: $103,285 - $132,090
Employees: Get a Salary Increase
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Job openings at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt, MD
  • About the NASA Postdoctoral Program The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ong... more
  • 12 Days Ago

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Huntsville, AL
  • About the NASA Postdoctoral Program The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ong... more
  • 13 Days Ago

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) York, NY
  • About the NASA Postdoctoral Program The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ong... more
  • 13 Days Ago

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt, MD
  • About the NASA Postdoctoral Program The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ong... more
  • 14 Days Ago


Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other OPTICAL DESIGN AND MODELING FOR THE HABITABLE WORLDS OBSERVATORY jobs in the Greenbelt, MD area that may be a better fit.

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt, MD
  • About the NASA Postdoctoral Program The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ong... more
  • 1 Month Ago

  • Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel, MD
  • Description Are you an optical physicist or engineer who enjoys both modeling/simulation and performing experiments to characterize optical and infrared in... more
  • 9 Days Ago

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!