Aerospace Engineer, AST, Safety and Mission Assurance (Direct Hire)

Full Job Description

The Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, Institutional Division, Technical Integration Branch at Kennedy Space Center is seeking an aerospace engineer for a range flight safety position.

Selectee will assess flight vehicles, flight systems, and planned trajectories for rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles; perform flight hazard analyses; provide launch support; and develop risk mitigation strategies, such as setting abort limits, to protect people and critical assets on the ground.

In addition to the Basic Education Requirement (in the Education section below), to qualify for this position you must meet the requirements below.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

NASA utilizes OPM-approved qualification and rating requirements specific for Aerospace Technology (AST) positions which recognizes NASA's unique aerospace work.

The specific qualifications and minimum education requirements are further described below and within the education section of the job announcement.

To qualify for GS-13, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level: Providing technical expertise on spacecraft or launch vehicle systems to identify areas of risk; Performing work involving systems engineering or system safety practices; Using quantitative analysis techniques such as trajectory dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, reliability block diagrams or fault trees, Bayesian networks, or other methods.

Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience.

Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses.

Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process. Major Duties:

• Generates and applies theories, principles, practical concepts, and processes related to aeronautics and astronautics safety, engineering design standards for aviation technology, critical inquiry and problem solving.
• Performs analysis and modeling of flight hazards such as debris impact, toxic dispersion, and distant focusing overpressure.
• Assesses flight vehicle performance characteristics, including aerodynamics, mass moments of inertia, center of gravity, and others. Assess structural breakup limits and breakup dynamics of flight vehicles, including resulting debris characteristics.
• Performs failure trajectory simulations, including guided and unguided modes using either 3 degree of freedom or 6 degree of freedom tools.
• Performs probability of failure assessments of flight vehicles using probability and statistics methods, including Bayesian statistics.
• Performs assessments of safety systems, including the use of Failure-Modes-Effects-and-Criticality-Analysis, reliability block diagrams, fault trees, etc. Oversees sufficiency of safety system testing and requirements compliance.
• Reviews design verification or certification plans for milestone events. Assures compliance with established safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality engineering design requirements. Identifies deficiencies and recommend enhancements.
• Provides console support during launches and utilize expert range flight safety knowledge to help manage risks to people and critical assets. Supports mishap responses.