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@Kit Maybe a bit.
It is a very cool job, at least when it isn't driving me cucking frazy.
One of the byproducts of all the new launchers (SpaceX's Falcon 9, NASA's SLS, India's PSLV and GSLV series, China's latest, etc.) and the expanding capabilities of small spacecraft hardware like cubesats is that everyone and their dog seems to be launching new spacecraft, a lot of which are venturing into deep space and requiring the services of JPL's Deep Space Network for communication. As a result we've been extremely busy for the past few years. Software installation, personnel training, and "level-1" event support has been an ongoing nightmare. (Then of course there's been the virus BS on top of it all.)
There's no let-up in sight either. I'll start with last month's LUCY launch, then add DART and Italy's LICIAcube (which went up with DART), the James Webb telescope going up next month, and then NASA's Artemis/EM1 launch after that in February. We're also going to be supporting NOAA's GOES18 with their launch in March, India's CHANDRAYAAN-3 in June, South Korea's KPLO in July, and NASA's Psyche in August. Artemis by itself is going to put up 10 new DSN-supported spacecraft in a single launch, including another cubesat for Italy and JAXA's OMOTENASHI and EQUULEUS cubesats. That's 8 launches and 17 new spacecraft in the next 12 months alone! (My current favorite is Psyche BTW.)
And for us in the DSN launches are just the start of the mission. We're still providing realtime data processing, tracking data, and communications services for decades-old missions like Voyager as well. If all the launches go as planned then we will be supporting a total of 97 spacecraft, landers, and rovers by this time next year.
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