Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.
Astrolab is seeking a control systems engineer to support development of active thermal control systems for extra-terrestrial rovers with highly constrained power and energy budgets. Thermal control system development will include simulation, analysis, and design of vehicle thermal control systems; identification and sizing of thermal control system sensors and actuators (heaters or other); analysis, characterization, verification, and validation of thermal control system performance; gain tuning; and supporting integrated hardware/software testing to verify thermal control system performance.
What you'll do:
Work with stakeholders to define thermal control system requirements from vehicle and subsystem level functional and performance requirements
Design, develop, tune, verify, and validate vehicle thermal control system performance
Build simulation and modeling tools for thermal control system design, analysis and tuning in appropriate tools and mature models as additional test data becomes available
Design and prototype appropriate controllers that meet the defined requirements using simulations and control system design tools
Define sizing and placement of thermal control system components such as RTDs, heaters, radiators, etc. to ensure efficient, effective vehicle thermal control
Analyze and tune controller performance, stability, and robustness using the system simulations and TVAC test data
Develop control system documentation and work with vehicle software team to convert controller prototypes into flight code, including supporting unit and integrated testing of flight implementations
Support calibration of thermal control system sensors and implementation of calibration in flight software
What you'll bring:
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) related field
10+ years of space vehicle thermal control system analysis, design, development, verification, and validation. Relevant space vehicles include space stations, human-rated spacecraft, deep space science missions, extra-terrestrial rovers, or similar
Experience building, testing, and validating thermal control systems simulation and analysis tools for space vehicles
Preferred Qualifications
Experience modeling, analyzing, and tuning performance of thermal control systems to maximize thermal control authority while minimizing power and energy consumption and control system complexity
Experience working with limited thermal system observability (e.g. need to limit number of avionics channels, data bandwidth, and harnessing)
Experience sizing thermal control systems and ensuring optimal (or close to optimal) placement of thermal control system elements (e.g. sensors, heaters, radiators)
Experience working with testbeds for testing control systems on flight-like hardware and devising test plans to ensure proper testing of vehicle thermal control systems in relevant environments
Strong proficiency with spacecraft thermal modeling, thermal control system design tools, and control systems analysis (e.g. thermal desktop, Matlab controls system toolbox)
Experience designing thermal control for complex, sensitive systems such as robotic arms, optical sensors with limited optimal operational temperature ranges, and similar is desired
Benefits and Perks
Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
Equity ownership in the company
Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
401(k) plan with company match
Flexible PTO and parental leave
Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks
Numbers & Facts
Location
Hawthorne, California (Remote)
Salary
$190,000–$220,000 Per Year
Skills
Analysis Skillsunmatched
Avionicsunmatched
Beveragesunmatched
Budgetingunmatched
Calibrationunmatched
Computer Networksunmatched
Control Systemsunmatched
Desktop PCunmatched
Document Managementunmatched
Financial Controlunmatched
Hardware Administrationunmatched
Hardware Quality Assuranceunmatched
Hardware-Software Integrationunmatched
Health Planunmatched
MATLABunmatched
Mathematicsunmatched
Performance Analysisunmatched
Performance Tuning/Optimizationunmatched
Prototypingunmatched
Psychiatry and Mental Healthunmatched
Requirements Managementunmatched
Simulationunmatched
Software Administrationunmatched
Software Testingunmatched
Surface Explorationunmatched
System Validationunmatched
Systems Analysisunmatched
Systems Engineeringunmatched
Team Playerunmatched
Test Dataunmatched
Test Plan/Scheduleunmatched
Testingunmatched
Thermal Managementunmatched
Thermal Sensorunmatched
Unit Testunmatched
Validation Testingunmatched
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