Happy Birthday Katie and Brian! I can’t believe you guys are 23. Geez.
I’m sitting in a conference room at JPL listening to the Design Review topic of the hour — the TDS. What, you may ask, is the TDS? Well, I think it’s something like Terminal Descent Sensor. But really, it’s just radar. I don’t know why we don’t call things what they are. It’s radar. Engineers are funny.
Gavin is presenting in another hour or so, talking about entry guidance. I’m starting to understand why he wanted to come do a tour at JPL. He already loved the project, but being here only heightens that feeling. I mean, I don’t even really want to be a true engineer anymore, and yet out here I still feel inspired. A feeling of “I could do this, I could help with this.” At JSC, I loathe the project and how dumb it makes me feel; at JPL, I wish I somehow had access to the sims so that I could start running stuff now, and coming up with results. These people are incredibly smart, and incredibly motivated. There is no work/life balance — their work is their life.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live like they do. I would burn out quickly, and probably badly. But it is sort of amazing and inspiring to see how these people work. I used to wonder how it was possible that we could send a spacecraft all the way to Mars, or Jupiter, or Saturn. They’re so far away! It sometimes seems impossible. But then I get here and listen to these guys, and think “oh, that’s how you do it.” You get these crazy smart guys together in one place, set them talking, and they make it happen.
Crazy.
Sarah,
You are invited because you are one of the crazy, smart guys!!
Mrs. G
That’s what I keep telling her, Mrs. G!
When I first spent a summer out at JPL and saw how crazy these guys were, and how hard they worked, I didn’t want to work there. I too was afraid about burnout, afraid about not having any other life outside of work.
But loving what you work on is a great feeling. Tremendous.
Sure, I’ve put in some long hard hours when the need arises, but that is the exception and not the rule. The rest of the team understands that. I mean, they have their own personal lives too. They don’t want to miss out on the other fun stuff that life has to offer, like baseball games or fine food and wine or music or travel or families or … you name it.