Artificial Intelligence Planetary Science Discovery in Legacy Data

Artificial Intelligence for Planetary Science Discovery in Legacy Data

Organization

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Reference Code: 0213-NPP-MAR
26-JPL-Planet Sci

Final date to receive applications: 3/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone

• Submit complete application (research proposal, three letters of recommendation, official doctoral transcript documents) via Zintellect.
• Follow NASA Postdoctoral Program application instructions and requirements at the NASA Postdoctoral Program website.

Planetary missions have returned enormous amounts of surface imagery during the past decades of space exploration, most of which remains unused by planetary scientists due to the inability to manually, exhaustively search for even a single scientifically relevant target feature. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to collaboratively focus researchers on candidate regions of interest that otherwise would be obscured by sheer dataset scale, significantly improving extracted science yield and accelerating science discovery in a manner broadly applicable to many planetary bodies.

This project seeks to combine traditional planetary science and recent advances in computer science to maximize the science return of past space exploration missions. The candidate will explore cutting edge AI/ML methods to automate science discovery and focus of attention in planetary image datasets. The science targets selected for discovery should be motivated by current, relevant questions that advance our understanding of planet surface dynamics and evolution.

We are looking for individuals who are comfortable with computationally efficient, rigorous machine learning for image region identification, demonstrate an understanding of both planetary science and scalable computer science, and have publication experience in the planetary science literature. Additional benefits include past experience with planetary image datasets, data science tools, Geographic Information Software, and an established network of expert contacts within planetary and computer science.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Planetary Science

Lukas Mandrake – lukas.mandrakea.gov

• Doctoral degree (Ph.D.)
• U.S. Citizens; U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
  Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status;
  Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. with a valid EAD card and I-485 or I-589 forms pending.

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://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

Questions? Email npp or contact Mikeala.

Internship

Full-time

Engineering and Information Technology

Government Administration