What Do You Do For Work/School?

[Colu]

14 hours ago, efaardvark said:

Tech support for the Deep Space Network here.  Really.  NASA badge and everything. 

More precisely I'm in the data systems integration and test group for the TTC (Tracking, Telemetry, and Command) software used at the Jet Propulsion Lab to process telemetry from the various robotic spacecraft, landers & rovers exploring the solar system.  After the developers are done developing and the testers tell us they're done with unit testing a new software release my group installs and configures it all in a flightlike manner on systems that parallel the actual realtime telemetry processing systems at JPL.  We run it that way for a while and compare it with the data produced by the flight software, noting any discrepancies and testing out new features.  When / if it checks out we also manage the upgrading of the flight systems and the transition to the new software.  We're on-call basically 24/7 to troubleshoot any problems with the software and are usually scheduled to support critical events like launches, maneuvers, and landings.

As for how I got here.. In between semesters at a community college I took a full-time, short term job changing reel-to-reel tapes at JPL for the Voyager Neptune encounter.  (This was back in '87 so reel-to-reel was still a thing. along with punched cards, line printers, dumb terminals, etc.  The Intel 486 processor and the Internet explosion were still a couple years in the future.)  The job was work a trained money could do and was only supposed to be a few months.  The encounter was a flyby event so after that the spacecraft would continue on to interplanetary (and eventually interstellar) space where nothing much happens.  Once all the data from the encounter was transmitted to the ground the tape-changing would drop from one every 5 minutes to one every couple weeks.  My job would end and I'd go back to school with a bit of tuition / book money in my pocket and several months of job experience at JPL on my resume.  Eventually I planned to transfer from the CC to UC Irvine and complete a C&IS/EE degree there.

But my boss liked my work & at the end of the Voyager job asked me if I'd be interested in a full-time job in realtime ops in the NOC there in the SFOF.  Wasn't at all part of my original Plan but hey, NASA, so I took it.  The pay was decent, I figured it would look good on the resume, it was good work experience, and if it didn't work out I could always go back to plan A.  The next 40 years were a blur.    

Hey man, why don’t you save some Cool Factor for the rest of us?

That is honestly so awesome! And the fact that you basically stumbled into NASA makes it even better haha. Move over Plan A, NASA’s calling  

[Zariel]

I'm in university, I study graphics.

[efaardvark]

6 hours ago, Colu said:

the fact that you basically stumbled into NASA makes it even better

I wouldn't say stumbled.  JPL was only about 7 miles away so it's basically a local business.  They have internship and academic part-time programs too so that's one of the first places that everyone around here checks when they're looking for work, even if  they're just looking for summer or part-time.  Additionally I am and always have been a big space nerd* so I knew that Voyager was coming up on a big mission event that they'd have to staff up for.  To not have at least checked to see if they had job openings would have been negligent.

The job wasn't exactly rocket science either.  When I say a trained monkey could have done it I'm not kidding.  There was a set of 4 tape recorders next to a huge rack of reel-to-reel tapes and a stack of sequentially numbered pre-printed peel-and-stick labels.  Data coming down would be written to the tapes at a peak rate of about 1 reel every 7 minutes.  When one tape is filled the recorder it is mounted on beeps and the system automatically switches writing to the blank tape on the next recorder.  The now-full tape automatically rewinds.  At that point the monkey unloads the tape, slaps the next label on it, puts the labeled tape on the rack, takes down a blank tape from the rack, and puts the blank tape on the now empty recorder.  Repeat this sequence for the 8-hour shift.  If you need a bathroom break you have about 20 minutes before all the tapes on all 4 recorders finish writing.  Every 10 tapes or so the monkey makes a pass over the heads and capstan of the recorder with an alcohol pad before mounting the new blank tape.  3 or 4 times a shift the librarian would come up to take away the written tapes, restock the rack with blank tapes, and add to the stack of pre-printed labels..  IIRC the pay was only about $5/hr, which was only a buck or so above federal minimum wage at the time.

My workplace, ca. 1989.

*My favorite game is Kerbal Space Program.  'nuff said.

Edited July 10, 2025 by efaardvark

[Leinkasx]

I do graphic design part-time while finishing up my final year at university. It’s mostly logos and simple projects, but it helps pay the bills and build my portfolio.