WEBVTT FILE

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Paual: Before I started working here at NASA, I
had my own sewing business.

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Geronimo: I was helping in a folkloric festival in
Argentina, so I was running the horses.

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Joy: I was also a bartender at a music festival.

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Who Works at NASA? What It takes to be a NASA Employee

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Paula: My name is Paula Cain, I am a thermal
blanket technician.

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Geronimo: I'm Geronimo Villanueva, I'm a planetary scientist.

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Joy: My name is Joy Ng and I'm a video producer

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Paula: I am from Capitol Heights Maryland.

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Geronimo: I was
born in Mendoza Argentina.

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Joy: I'm from Devon which is on the southwest
coast of the UK.

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Paul: So I was a fashion design major, and ended
up designing clothes for satellites.

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Geronimo: Electrical engineering actually
was my my undergrad, and then my master

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was in telecommunications. Then I went to Germany, this is when I did my PhD, and

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then became an astrophysics.

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Joy: I did my undergrad in biology which I loved, but I

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also loved many other areas in science
too. So I decided to do a science

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communication course for my Master's.

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Paula: Well I ended up working here in NASA, it

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sort of happened by mistake, used to
always check the Washington Post ads for

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jobs, and they had one said "Are you a
Star Trek fan? Do you think about space?"

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and it said "Come work here at NASA as a
thermal blanket technician." I had no idea

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what it was. So I called, came in for the
interview and I got the job.

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Geronimo: So when I moved to Germany I start doing my PhD. I discovered the European Space Agency.

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The German Space Agency and start working in
connection with NASA, so when I finished

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my PhD this is when they offered me a
fellowship to come here to NASA Goddard

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Space Flight Center. It was supposed to
be for two years, and I've been here for 15.

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Joy: When I first started working at NASA, I
started out as the earth science

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multimedia fellow. So I was on the earth
science news team, covering breaking news.

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Paula: When I thought of NASA, I thought of
space, I thought of futuristic things, I

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thought of the Jetsons.

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Geronimo: Every time you hear NASA you think about

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these genius people.

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Joy: As a kid I never thought I could work for NASA.

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Geronimo: When I got offered to do the fellowship here, I
actually was scared to come here because

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I'm gonna say, "Oh my god, am I actually
qualified to be working at NASA?"

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Paula: What it means to me now being a
NASA employee, is that the sky's the limit.

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Geronimo: Once you
arrive here and you realize that it's

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obviously it's just people that have
passion for space, is the main thing

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that defines a NASA scientist.

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Joy: To work at NASA I think you have to be really

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curious about the world.

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Paula: You just have to
find your niche and where you can fit in

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here, because you can fit in here.

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Geronimo: If you have a that passion for space, don't

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let anybody tell you what are your
limits.

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Joy: There is definitely a job for you. There are so many jobs here.

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Paula: The fact that I am here doing it, and I'm getting

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to touch things that are going into
space, working here now I'm doing things

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that people would never even dream of.
And I'm a fashion designer, so don't let

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your preconceptions of what people think
stop you.

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Explore NASA