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What it's like working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

John Pham on May 24, 2019

There's a ton of buzz around what it's like working at big tech companies but not much on gems such as NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). For mo...
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Ben Halpern

Coooool!

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Jean-Michel Plourde

I am immensely jealous. Working at NASA would be the ultimate nerd thing to do. I love space and tech so this would be a perfect match. Unfortunately, I'm Canadian, so the process would be a lot to reach at position there.

I was surprised to find JPL is using Github. There is also a couple of tools we use at our job and I understand why some bigger orgs would use them. I loved to read your post. I can't wait for the next one.

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John Pham

Hi! Not all roles require you to be a US citizen.

A big push at the lab is innersourcing code. GitHub is a great too help with that.

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Max Tarsis

So, are there opportunities to get a frontend job when a person a non-US citizen?

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John Pham

Depending on the type of work, a role might be only for US Citizens. Check out the careers website to see if the role you're interested in has that requirement.

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Sandeep Balachandran

Wow,Great to hear about JPL . Let me get this right.

1) Among Data Services team, User Interface team, and Artificial Intelligence team who did the mentioned works as developing the US' first Earth-orbiting science satellite, developing the first interplanetary spacecraft, and sending robots to other planets ? I mean h/w section. AI team?

2) Apparently there is no php for backend. What was the reason not to use php for the works?

3) Which linux distro have you been using lately?

4)Whats the one thing you hate most from the workplace?

5)Last but not least if you ever get to know about extraterrestrial events, are you willing to share here first?

  • Many more doubts are one the way -
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John Pham
  1. The three teams I listed isn't the exhaustive list. There are probably over 300 teams here with different focuses. Most of the projects are under missions so people from software, hardware, operations, and design are recruited in from across the lab.

  2. There may be some PHP being used at the lab. From my experience I haven't seen any. If an individual wanted to use PHP then they could put together an argument explaining why it would be the best tool for the task. My guess for the limited use would be since it's not a strongly typed language, it's harder to ensure correctness.

  3. I use a Mac for local development and Alpine/RHEL for Docker containers.

  4. Could get pretty slow around here.

  5. Not sure what you mean by this

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Sandeep Balachandran
  1. I mean That was kinda of joke. You know since you are working at NASA you get to know if there is a sign of extraterrestrial life before everyone else. So share here first. Like "hey guys , I talked to this guy from Europa (or any) yesterday, Felt so realistic" . Stuffs like that. :D
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Brian Lampe

I was there with my family last weekend. That must be an awesome place to work!

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John Pham

Were you here for the Explore our Universe day?

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Brian Lampe

"A Ticket to Explore JPL" last Sunday.

It was packed. We waited in line nearly an hour to see "The Center of the Universe".

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Mukhtar Khan

Working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is an extraordinary experience filled with innovation and collaboration. Employees engage in groundbreaking projects, from exploring Mars to developing advanced spacecraft technologies. The atmosphere encourages creativity and problem-solving, surrounded by passionate professionals dedicated to space exploration. For more insights into careers at JPL and similar opportunities, visit zelajet.com for valuable information!

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Alex Radu

This was really cool :) Thank you for all the insight!

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Max Tarsis

I love this article
Much thanks :)

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Stephen Chiang

Pretty cool! If I were to look in the USA, this would be first choice.

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John Pham

It's been really fun!

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Anthony Rolfe

Does JPL have any open source projects?