The Spektr-UF/World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) mission is an international space telescope that will be launched in 2025 to guarantee observational access in the ultraviolet (UV) range to astronomers after the end of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) mission. The Spanish Science Operations Center (SOC) will be in Madrid, hosted by the Joint Center for Ultraviolet Astronomy (JCUVA) at Universidad Complutense of Madrid.

The WSO-UV is a 170 cm primary space telescope, equipped with instrumentation for imaging and ultraviolet spectroscopy. The mission is run by an international consortium led by Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS, with an important Spanish participation. Spain contributes to this project in three areas: instrumentation provision and validation (providing the detectors for one of the instruments on board, the Field Camera Unit), ground segment development (implementing the Science Control Center, SOC) and preparation of the scientific observing program.

An important part of the Spanish contribution is the provision of the software systems that conform the SOC. Major part of these SOC systems are developed using Python/C/Shell scripting. GUIs run using web interfaces over Apache and Linux under Django framework. A MySQL database serves as repository for sharing data among all systems.

In the uplink side, the web system in charge of collecting the observing proposals as submitted by the astronomical community has been already implemented and used for the first Call of Opportunity. Next step is the development of the post-processing of the received proposals for creating high-level planning sequences. In the downlink side, the Mission Archive is already under development, and the integration with the instrument processors and remaining systems is also ready to start.

Candidate Profile:

The successful candidate will join the WSO-UV SOC Spanish team to develop and maintain the SOC software systems. This requires developing, testing, verifying, and commissioning the software using the SOC software development standards. Proper documentation will be generated along the whole development process. 

The successful applicant must have a university degree in computer science, physics, mathematics or related areas. Experience with development of astronomy or observatory applications is preferred, ideally in the field of web interfaces and their integration with RDBMS systems. The applicant, in particular, will have experience and proficiency in:

• Following standards for software development (ideally, ECSS).
• Using Configuration Control tools, preferably Git.
• Using Python/C/Shell scripting under Linux.
• Using Django Framework under Apache web / Linux.
• Databases administration knowledge (mainly MySQL).

Good English skills are essential. Knowledge of Russian is an asset. 

Position:

The successful candidate will work in the framework of the Project “Participación Española en el World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet 2021-2024”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, PI Ana Ines Gomez de Castro. The yearly gross salary will be about 20.000 euros, final salary depending on candidate profile and experience. The duration of the contract will be for a period of one year, yearly renewable.

Contact:

Candidates should send a detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter explaining their interest to the e-mail address sec.aegora@ucm.es, quoting reference “VN 2022/01 SW position”. Consideration of applications will begin in December 1st 2021, and will continue until the position is filled. Contract starting date will be February 1st 2022.