Space training team – Electronic Field Book development

Our team and mission

PANGAEA (Planetary ANalogue Geological and Astrobiological Exercise for Astronauts) is a geological and astrobiological field training course for astronauts and mission developers. It develops fundamental knowledge and skills in these disciplines, as well as observational and decision-making skills such as identifying important geological features in the field, conducting efficient sampling and effectively communicating with scientists on Earth. Complementary to its training goals, PANGAEA is also used as a research and development platform to enable advances to be made in several technological, scientific and operational areas.  

CAVES (Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills) teaches astronauts human performance and behavioural skills for exploration tasks through an expedition into a natural cave system. Cave systems present environments and situations very similar to spaceflight, making them ideal for this type of training. The scientific exploration conducted by the astronauts during CAVES also enhances human understanding of cave environments.  

Both projects make use of the ‘Electronic Fieldbook’ (EFB) system to gather scientific information in the field and distribute it to the mission support personnel.

Activities and learning areas

During planetary activities and analogue simulations on Earth, astronauts collect a variety of data, including pictures, videos, audio recordings, text notes, GNSS locations and scientific data retrieved with analytical tools. These data have to be centralised, catalogued and distributed wirelessly to ground support teams. A system supporting these capabilities is vital for allowing ground based scientific and operational expertise to be utilised by crews working in distant environments, such as in remote geological environments or cave systems on Earth, or the surface of the Moon. The EFB is intended to fulfil this role, allowing users to gather, store and send scientific data in a reliable, intuitive and time-efficient manner. 

The selected candidate will support and implement the development of the system adding new modules and features, engineering hardware components as well.

Specific duties

• Familiarisation with the current version of the Electronic Fieldbook system (EFB), requirements and frameworks used
• Designing, producing and testing of core elements of the system (software or hardware) to be integrated in the current or next releases. 

Based on the specific skills and task assignment, the candidate will be involved in:

• Improving the current version of the EFB’s user interface
• Laying the groundwork for advanced modules to interface EFB with external peripherals, such as 360° cameras, microscopes, spectrometers, etc.
• Preparing hardware prototypes as connectivity repeaters, integration of wireless cameras or external visors (AR/VR/HUD)
• Investigate and develop wireless bridges for sensors hosted on embedded boards (like RaspberryPi, ESP32, Arduino).  Preferred transmission protocols are Wi-Fi and LoRa
• Investigate state of the art in application of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for recognition of planetary materials from multispectral datasets, and proceed with their implementation and interface with the EFB runtime. 

Competencies and skills

Preferred educational background in software engineering, computer science or telecommunications engineering, electronic engineering.

(depending on specific task assignment)

• Software development: academic or professional experience with at least one of the programming languages – frameworks or engines currently used in the project: JavaScript, AngularJS, Java, CouchDB, HTML, Ionic, Cordova, Electron, REST paradigm. Experience with C++, C#, UWP and user interface design would be a plus. Experience with Python, TensorFlow, Docker is considered asset for the ML branch. Previous experience in GIS systems would be a plus.
• Hardware, Telecommunications and prototyping: academic or professional experience in UNIX embedded boards or generic electronics (e.g. RaspberryPi, ESP32, Arduino), as well as having basics of OpenWRT, Wi-Fi, and of routing and networking protocols such as the ones used in mesh networking. Experience in hardware assembling and CAD 3D design-printing and prototyping. Familiarity with standards for ergonomics in terrestrial applications, and in ECSS for space utilisation would be a plus.

Internship start dates are flexible. Candidates should be available for six months. Shorter internships can be negotiated on a case by case basis, the minimum length being four months. 

Applications are currently closed.

Interested students are asked to familiarise themselves with the general terms and conditions of ESA internships here.