NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration reviews

If you want to work for NASA, apply as a student intern. NASA loves hiring them. Go to nasajobs.nasa.gov and click the Pathways links at the bottom. There's one for current openings (so keep checking back), and the other has general information about the program.

People forget how much testing we did for things no one had tried before. During a Navy launch, the main stage the missile came up and started cartwheeling over our building. The second stage of the missile went up and landed just a couple thousands yards away from us. The funny thing was, the press was there and quite a lot of photographers were with us at the time. At T minus 5, we turned off the radar so it wouldn't interfere with the launch. Right as the rocket went haywire and flipped end over end a message came on the radio "Take cover!" The rocket hit the ground and rocked us. It was the nearest I ever came to being hit by a missle.

I think one of the major problems (at least in the group I was working with) is that the people in charge really didn't know how to do the jobs of the people they were managing. This lead to decisions that didn't make sense, and unspoken frustration from the "underlings." For example, my manager was a physicist/meteorologist and that's really all he knew. He didn't know anything about programming. Yet, he was in charge of 10+ engineers whose main job was programming this piece of software. He would often try to make really uninformed decisions, such as which library we should be using, and because he was the manager there was no choice but to listen to him. In my opinion, the power should be in the hands of the people doing engineering, and the top-down management style should go.

NASA was my first job. I started as a summer intern while an undergrad, and they thought I did a good job, so they kept me as an intern throughout undergrad. I didn't know if I would get the internship when I first applied to NASA, since I had zero job experience, but I applied anyway. I think my internship at Google was partially accepted because I had a beefed up resume with NASA experience. So my advice is just to apply to internships even if you don't think you won't get them, because employers are more open than you'd think.

One of the things that impressed me the most is how one program would dovetail into another. Everything had a purpose. And when that purpose was accomplished, to see it turn right into another was really neat. I really had fun. One time, we had an air breathing missile dropped from a plane out in the Atlantic. It had no destruct package on it. It was the only missile I could recall that had no destruct package. So we called in F86's in to follow the missile in case it went off course. They were to shoot it down. This was the only time I ever vectored a fighter plane. It was really exciting. It was one of those jobs where they said: "Here's what you have to do. Now go figure out a way to do it."

all the free food and very good people which indicates their well being

traveling to space a lot / a lot of tech time / no sleep / space food

free food very good / free living / dorms / can get my family with me

Salary, bonuses, benefits and other perks!

Salary, benefits, bonuses, benefits!

manual labor, child labor, Chinese child labor, etc

the pay is really high i dont like it i dont like the pay its very high.

idk

People, benefits, work life balance

Politics, non team players

Telework/Remote work, leave

I love Space and i would make a lot of money

Having to move

Working with computers and technoligy

i like the environment and the professionals i worked with

i don't like the regimented schedule and life

i aquired more knowledge

salaries paid are good

time

health my place of residence is far from a health center

There are channeling problems to solve everyday.

The need for internal competitiveness and alway looking over your shoulder to avoid getting "scooped".

Travel for field expeditions in the Western US and abroad.

I believe it is a center of innovation,

I am not sure,

When my job is successfully completed; the job could be achievable when it done inventively,

I got to do all type of stuff.

Nothing, I just want something new

Being famous

Flexibility

Federal Government control

Flexible work hours. There is a requirement to work 40 hours a week. Does not matter how you reach it.

Everything.

Nothing. It is all really good.

Being able to go to the launch pads.

It was cool going to space

I did not like throwing up in space it was gros

The

Well there were virulent, Jew-hating National Socialists and there were German guys who joined the Nazi party because that was the only way they'd let them screw around with rockets.

Apply to NASA Pathways while you're a student. There's information on nasajobs.nasa.gov.

Keep in mind when I joined up, NASA wasn't even in existence. Back then it was called "Long Range Proving Ground." I was working in Birmingham at the time, and I saw an ad in the paper for RCA jobs for a missile range in Florida. I read the article, and it said they were interviewing in a hotel here in Birmingham. So I called my wife and said I was going to apply later that day. I showed up, filled out an application, took a test. The rest is history.

One of the things that impressed me the most is how one program would dovetail into another. Everything had a purpose. And when that purpose was accomplished, to see it turn right into another was really neat. I really had fun. One time, we had an air breathing missile dropped from a plane out in the Atlantic. It had no destruct package on it. It was the only missile I could recall that had no destruct package. So we called in F86's in to follow the missile in case it went off course. They were to shoot it down. This was the only time I ever vectored a fighter plane. It was really exciting. It was one of those jobs where they said: "Here's what you have to do. Now go figure out a way to do it."

Relationships were very, very good. We had people that weren't so technically apt, not like we needed them to be, of course. We had one guy that used a hammer to put in a $1000 lamp into a system. Just an example. And that was frustrating, when people operated like a bull in a china shop.

(Grandson: He humbly laughs.) Study, study, study. And then study some more.

I really wasn't exposed to that level, really. Keep in mind, I worked for RCA, so we were often told what to according to their guidelines and specs.

Seems like they are doing a great job, in my opinion. I don't read the paper much anymore. But I see it on TV and I think it is wonderful. I've been away long enough to not have much inside knowledge.

1. I'm sorry I don't know Homer Hickman. I know who he was, but never had any sort of interaction with him. 2. To me, it was successful because it got off the ground. That was my job. For NASA, it was a disaster. But for NASA to get those men back home, it became successful all over again. 3. I have no idea. (laughter.)

Working day with no launch: My job was to ensure equipment was in good shape for the next launch. Very procedural. Working day with launch: Filled with checks and tests being done on a very rigid schedule. Everything had to be done at an exact time with certain checking being done and done successfully. They had to be done at the exact right time to fit in with the launch itself. There were times we couldn't test for things if the 'bird' wasn't in configuration for it. So we had very narrow windows to test for things. Otherwise, we'd set off bells and sirens across the area.

I didn't know much about the politics since I wasn't that high up. But the attitudes among our fellow people I knew quite a lot. Many NASA employees didn't even know the full extent to what we were doing (in terms of missile launches, etc.) (Grandson note: He won't say more as he doesn't want to implicate. Sorry.)

I don't know much about today. But back in the 50's, it wasn't hard at all. I interviewed, took a short test and that was that. They sent me the whole package and a short time later, I was a contractor at RCA working for NASA. At that time, they were hiring just about anyone that showed interest and had any sort of aptitude at all. And as we grew, we had to do all the training.

I wasn't too nervous really. My part was over after they were safely off the ground and into space. My nerves were high up until that point.

When I took the job, I didn't even know a moon landing was on the table. We were just busy trying to keep the Russians at bay. It was strictly a defensive job at first. Initially it was a joint program for testing long range missiles for Army, Navy, Air Force together. In fact, before NASA, we were called the "Long Range Proving Ground". NASA came after all this.

People forget how much testing we did for things no one had tried before. During a Navy launch, the main stage the missile came up and started cartwheeling over our building. The second stage of the missile went up and landed just a couple thousands yards away from us. The funny thing was, the press was there and quite a lot of photographers were with us at the time. At T minus 5, we turned off the radar so it wouldn't interfere with the launch. Right as the rocket went haywire and flipped end over end a message came on the radio "Take cover!" The rocket hit the ground and rocked us. It was the nearest I ever came to being hit by a missle.

It started out intense and ended up more intense. The more people we put into space, the more challenging it become, safety-wise. As for the cutbacks, I feel that we should continue all the exploration that we can. I don't know that I would cut back on anything else over priority to this.

Congratulations on making the switch. Yes, definitely. It might vary depending on your field, but I would say the NASA background is a big bonus on your resume over a regular company or research organization.

It was not easy to start my own projects. For example, at one point I created a new testing framework for our large software project that had literally zero tests. It was ignored by management because they didn't really understand what testing is or what the benefits were. During my time there I never wrote a proposal, but I heard from people who did that it was a horrible process. It was the norm to lie about your expected cost just to get it through approval, and you were expected to exaggerate benefits and de-exaggerate expected time.

NASA was my first job. I started as a summer intern while an undergrad, and they thought I did a good job, so they kept me as an intern throughout undergrad. I didn't know if I would get the internship when I first applied to NASA, since I had zero job experience, but I applied anyway. I think my internship at Google was partially accepted because I had a beefed up resume with NASA experience. So my advice is just to apply to internships even if you don't think you won't get them, because employers are more open than you'd think.

I think one of the major problems (at least in the group I was working with) is that the people in charge really didn't know how to do the jobs of the people they were managing. This lead to decisions that didn't make sense, and unspoken frustration from the "underlings." For example, my manager was a physicist/meteorologist and that's really all he knew. He didn't know anything about programming. Yet, he was in charge of 10+ engineers whose main job was programming this piece of software. He would often try to make really uninformed decisions, such as which library we should be using, and because he was the manager there was no choice but to listen to him. In my opinion, the power should be in the hands of the people doing engineering, and the top-down management style should go.