Paual: Before I started working here at NASA, I had my own sewing business.
Geronimo: I was helping in a folkloric festival in Argentina, so I was running the horses.
Joy: I was also a bartender at a music festival.
Who Works at NASA? What It takes to be a NASA Employee
Paula: My name is Paula Cain, I am a thermal blanket technician.
Geronimo: I'm Geronimo Villanueva, I'm a planetary scientist.
Joy: My name is Joy Ng and I'm a video producer
Paula: I am from Capitol Heights Maryland.
Geronimo: I was born in Mendoza Argentina.
Joy: I'm from Devon which is on the southwest coast of the UK.
Paul: So I was a fashion design major, and ended up designing clothes for satellites.
Geronimo: Electrical engineering actually was my my undergrad, and then my master
was in telecommunications. Then I went to Germany, this is when I did my PhD, and
then became an astrophysics.
Joy: I did my undergrad in biology which I loved, but I
also loved many other areas in science too. So I decided to do a science
communication course for my Master's.
Paula: Well I ended up working here in NASA, it
sort of happened by mistake, used to always check the Washington Post ads for
jobs, and they had one said "Are you a Star Trek fan? Do you think about space?"
and it said "Come work here at NASA as a thermal blanket technician." I had no idea
what it was. So I called, came in for the interview and I got the job.
Geronimo: So when I moved to Germany I start doing my PhD. I discovered the European Space Agency.
The German Space Agency and start working in connection with NASA, so when I finished
my PhD this is when they offered me a fellowship to come here to NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center. It was supposed to be for two years, and I've been here for 15.
Joy: When I first started working at NASA, I started out as the earth science
multimedia fellow. So I was on the earth science news team, covering breaking news.
Paula: When I thought of NASA, I thought of space, I thought of futuristic things, I
thought of the Jetsons.
Geronimo: Every time you hear NASA you think about
these genius people.
Joy: As a kid I never thought I could work for NASA.
Geronimo: When I got offered to do the fellowship here, I actually was scared to come here because
I'm gonna say, "Oh my god, am I actually qualified to be working at NASA?"
Paula: What it means to me now being a NASA employee, is that the sky's the limit.
Geronimo: Once you arrive here and you realize that it's
obviously it's just people that have passion for space, is the main thing
that defines a NASA scientist.
Joy: To work at NASA I think you have to be really
curious about the world.
Paula: You just have to find your niche and where you can fit in
here, because you can fit in here.
Geronimo: If you have a that passion for space, don't
let anybody tell you what are your limits.
Joy: There is definitely a job for you. There are so many jobs here.
Paula: The fact that I am here doing it, and I'm getting
to touch things that are going into space, working here now I'm doing things
that people would never even dream of. And I'm a fashion designer, so don't let
your preconceptions of what people think stop you.
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