Selina Machnitzky

Background

I am a PhD student in Space Research at Cranfield University, working in collaboration with the European Space Agency’s Near‑Earth Object Coordination Centre (ESA/NEOCC). My research focuses on Near‑Earth Asteroids, orbital dynamics and survey‑selection effects in the context of planetary defense.

With an academic background in physics (MSc, 1.0 thesis grade in German system; A+ equivalent, Alumni Prize) and experience in research, astrodynamics, scientific programming and data analysis, I enjoy solving complex problems at the intersection of space science, physics and computational methods.

Research opportunities

- Near‑Earth Asteroids (NEAs)

- Orbital dynamics & celestial mechanics

- Planetary defense

- Survey‑selection effects & observation biases

- Asteroid population modelling

- Asteroid Hazard mitigation

- Scientific computing & data analysis in space science

Current activities

- PhD student in Space Research at Cranfield University

- Collaboration with ESA’s Near‑Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC)

- Investigating discovery gaps in NEA populations

- Analysing orbital dynamics and survey‑selection effects

- Applying scientific computing to space science problems

- Contributing to planetary defense research initiatives