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Support to Science Operations Gaia
2014-05-07 15:37:57| Space-careers.com Jobs RSS
There is now a great opportunity to join The Server Labs team and work in ESAC The European Space Astronomy Centre in Madrid, Spain. The Server Labs is a European IT services company, specialised on software engineering and handson consulting. We offer an excellent package, including highest salary, social benefits, company benefits, extra holidays and health and dental insurance. Important Candidates must hold a European Passport and be willing to work in Spain Job Description Support to Science Operations Gaia This work package is intended to provide a number of specialised services to support ESA in developing Gaias Astrometric Global Iterative Solution AGIS software into an operational system. ESAs Gaia mission is designed to create an accurate and complete astrometric catalogue which will serve for decades to come More than 1000 Million objects mostly stars in our Milky Way down to apparent magnitude 20 will be repeatedly observed from the second Lagrange point L2 during the satellites nominal lifetime of 5 years. This will yield a raw data volume of about 100 TB from which each stars position, trigonometric parallax, and proper motion for a smaller subset also radial velocity will be determined to microarcsec accuracy typically 25 as for parallax at 15th magnitude. The data processing and catalogue creation is carried out by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium DPAC formed by around 400 individuals and six main data processing centres distributed across Europe. The Gaia SOC at ESAC is an integral part of DPAC and plays a key role in developing and operating parts of the Core Processing system to which AGIS belongs. The global solution will form the basis for the astrometric part of the catalogue the first version of which is planned for release to the public around autumn 2015 Launch 22 months. AGIS is being developed as a distributed Javaonly system since 2005 jointly by the Gaia SOC and a small number of DPAC scientists. The system has matured over the years into a versatile processing system running the complex core algorithms in a distributed and multithreaded manner on ESAC hardware or external Computing Clouds. A small number of key scientific algorithms still need to be implemented, integrated and tested.This will usually follow available detailed mathematical descriptions andor existing prototype codes from the scientific community. Algorithms must be tested in isolation as well as part of the overall system using available simulation data. Largescale runs are still done using a number of simplifying assumptions which must gradually be eliminated. With a nominal start of operations around May 2014 the systems fitness to process first real flight must be proven as soon as possible. In this process technical and scientific problems must be diagnosed and resolved in collaboration with external scientists. After a minimum of 12 months of mission data is available the system must be operated to seek a solution that will form the basis of the first astrometric catalogue scheduled for release to the public around end 2015. Specific Service tasks Main Service Tasks Responsibilities Service work to be provided as part of the Gaia SOC AGIS team in close coordination the scientific community to develop the Global Iterative Solution into an operational system Service Work Package Descriptions and Scope 1. Development and integration of scientific algorithms Service support must be provided for o Coding scientific algorithms in Java following detailed mathematical descriptions o Integrating these algorithms into the AGIS framework o Testing and validating new implemented functionality unit integration tests using simulation data o Optimize new code in terms of memory CPU usage All activities will be supported by SOC personnel and collaborating external scientists. 2. Maintenance of existing code modules Service support must be provided for maintenance of existing code. In particular o Analyse and resolve known deficiencies and inadequacies Issues of existing AGIS software modules o Verify and validate that issues have been resolved usually in the form of extending existing tests andor conduction of new largescale tests. 3. System verification and scientific validation o Aid in the definition, conduction and analysis of largescale testing campaigns including a first assessment of the scientific quality of results. o Documenting results of test campaigns in the form of validation test reports 4. Aid in the creation of the first astrometric solution L22m Service support must be provided for assisting SOC personnel in all activities needed to generate the first astrometric solution with real flight data, such as o Populating the operational AGIS processing DB with IDT and all needed auxiliary data o Starting the AGIS run o Monitoring the execution of the run from a technical and scientific viewpoint o In case of problems, diagnose their cause and implement rectifying actions All activities will be supported by SOC personnel and collaborating external scientists. 5. Other Activities In addition to AGIS the Gaia SOC is responsible for operating and maintaining a number of other key systems like the Initial Data Treatment IDT or the central Gaia Tools Java Library. The service personnel may be asked to support maintaining these systems in phases of manpower shortage. Specific qualification requirements The service to be provided requires that the personnel should possess a university background in a scientific or technical subject and relevant professional experience of at least 5 years in software development. In particular, experience and proficiency in the following fields is required o Development andor maintenance of complex scientific data processing systems,preferably in Java o Strong background in mathematics and numerical modelling of data o Standard Software development techniques and associated tools Eclipse, Subversion, JUnit, ant, continuous integration, automated testing o Scripting with Python and SciPy NumPyMatplotlib o UNIX, Linux, operating system o Product assurance processes and techniques o Working with ESA Standards, Frameworks and Tools e.g. ECSS o LaTeX Other qualification requirements The service personnel must o Have good communications skills o Be able to document their work o Willing to travel to meetings with the scientific community andor working visits o Feel comfortable in an international working environment o Be fluent in written and spoken English Company Description The Server Labs is a European IT services company, specialised on software engineering and handson consulting. Our architects and software engineers are experts on the latest technologies and agile methodologies, to provide our clients the best software solutions, practices and software architectures. We collaborate with our clients to obtain success, committed to innovation, enjoying what we do every day and growing with every challenge. The Server Labs works with different industries and business verticals. Within the Space industry, The Server Labs works with the European Space Agency ESA, at ESAC, near Madrid, and at ESOC, in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt. We provide specialists to ESA, but also our company expertise and services in technologies and methodologies to offer additional value to the projects and initiatives led by ESA. By working with The Server Labs, you will be part of a multinational team in a fast growing technology company based in Madrid, Frankfurt and London. Please send your CV with cover letter to resumetheserverlabs.com before the 19th of May 2014 Additional information Position ID TSLSRE067 Deadline 19th of May 2014 Location Madrid, Spain Support Start Date 1 July 2014 Support End Date 31 July 2016
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