[AKluge]

Another option, also supported from within MATLAB is GPU computing, that is running the code on the GPU rather than on the CPU. https://www.mathworks.com/solutions/gpu-computing.html This works very well, but only for some specific types of problems.

Scientific computing is a huge field - you may find yourself needing to acquire some background in the science, in calculus, perhaps a bit of linear algebra (matrices), etc.

It can, especially since it is associated with space flight, be a great deal of fun :)

The odds are good they don't expect you to carry the science side of the project, but to work on performance and scalability of existing algorithms and methods. So, look at the existing code

  - what is the scientific domain
    - find an introduction or overview
  - what is the mathematics being employed
    - find reviews, and some more detailed material here
  - what numerical methods are in use
    - you will need to understand these, built on the above
  - exactly how do they envision it scaling
  - what are the performance issues that follow from this scaling

[TripleH]

I have some previous experience in calculus and GPU, hopefully my memories of computer graphics classes will help me in this journey.

A huge thank for your advices and the methodology shared!