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Qualified Technical Services

Lunar Rover Mapping Data and Backend Services Developer

Qualified Technical Services, Mountain View, California, us, 94039


Work Location:

NASA Ames Research Center - Mountain View, CA (Temporarily Working Remote)

Minimum Citizenship:

U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident

JOB DESCRIPTION

- Lunar Rover Mapping Data and Backend Services Developer

Do you want to help NASA develop software for space exploration?

The NASA VIPER Lunar mission team (https://www.nasa.gov/viper)

has an opening for a computer scientist or mapping expert to help create map products from instrument data and develop mapping data services in support of a robotic mission to the Lunar south pole. This is an exciting opportunity to co-develop systems that will help us explore space.

The position will initially be remote, but will eventually require at least part-time presence at NASA Ames.

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will go to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice that could eventually be harvested to sustain human exploration on the Moon, Mars and beyond. The VIPER mission science team is based at NASA Ames, as are the teams developing the software to operate the VIPER rover and mission control ground systems.

Responsibilities of this position include importing science instrument data streams and rover telemetry in real-time from the VIPER telemetry and control system and using them to build map products (e.g. geo-registered false-color terrain overlays) that provide status and decision support information to the science and engineering teams as the rover drives across the lunar surface.

REQUIREMENTS

- Lunar Rover Mapping Data and Backend Services Developer

Education : Master’s degree in Computer Science, Planetary science, or related field (or Bachelors plus 5+ years of related experience)

Year(s) of Experience : 3 + years of related experience, 2+ years of that experience being CS experience

Citizenship:

Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident

Qualifications, Skills and Traits:

Expertise in mapping data formats and tools (e.g. GeoTIFF, PROJ, GDAL)

Understanding of web map delivery protocols and formats (WMS, TMS, COGS), experience preferred

Experience with 2D image processing libraries (e.g PIL, ImageMagick)

Experience with object-oriented software development - Python experience strongly preferred

Experience testing and delivering software for production use

Experience developing database connected services

Comfortable using UNIX command line tools

Comfortable working with software version control systems such as git

Desired Skills:

General experience with GIS tools and/or procedures

Experience with mapserver systems (e.g. Geoserver, Mapserver)

Familiarity with web mapping clients such as OpenLayers 4, Leaflet, CesiumJS

PostGIS (preferably) or MySQL

Familiarity with 3D representations for mapping (e.g. GeoTIFF height maps, 3D-Tiles)

Front-end web development experience, preferably using frameworks such as React or Vue

Experience with user interface design and working with users to test and improve software tools

The Equal Employment Opportunity Policy of the QTS is to provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability. QTS hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled. QTS believes that employees should be provided with a working environment which enables them to be productive and to work to the best of his or her ability. We do not condone or tolerate an atmosphere of intimidation or harassment based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability. We expect and require the cooperation of all employees in maintaining a discrimination and harassment-free atmosphere.