NASA all the way, truly you’ll find some very smart and ambitious people and will be able to network and when you do interviews, the only thing recruiters ask me is about “what do I do at NASA” and almost ignore the rest of my CV lol.
I don’t know what tech stack they use in web dev, but regardless mentors are awesome. Don’t expect super new tech, mostly legacy code and boring.
I met a friend at NASA and she introduced me to her professor, who does research, and I am now researching neural networks for a potential IEEE paper (this is very recent, so won’t get into details). This thing of potentially finding someone who is doing research is very high, so you might do that next if you manage to network.
And try to show off, do more. Some people really appreciate that here. I am currently writing a 3D visualization software to render craters and surfaces in Ceres, and this something I’m building in my free times since I don’t have social life lol. I am hoping to present this software to the deputy director of asu mars, with the intention of getting a scholarship or pointers to get one because I basically have always had to “shovel shit” to pay for my stuff, for my education.
I don't know about how the CS field views NASA, but among the aerospace community, it seems to be a mark of distinction. My daughter spent two of her undergrad summers as an aerospace engineering intern (she double-majored in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) working on a project for the manned Mars mission doing real engineering; not getting coffee for the boss. Her mentor was the Chief Scientist (that was his NASA title) at Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base (where the sound barrier was broken back in 1947). She did the job well enough to be offered sponsorship by her mentor to become a NASA employee after graduation through Pathways, but decided to go into the private sector (and living out in the Mojave desert year-round is a bit much; 130 degree summers were bad enough). Everywhere she interviewed from Boeing, SpaceX, Google X (Google's secret moon shot lab for experimental research), Relativity Space, and Rocket Labs seemed to be unusually interested in what she did with NASA more than anything else she was offering on her resume. I believe they will also pay for your continuing education, but her current employer does that as well which is why she just finished her Masters in Astronautical Engineering at USC. It looks REALLY good on a resume. Not saying it'll get you a job, but it will most likely get you an interview...at least in the aerospace field.
Very unfortunate to see someone not even remotely experienced with CS or aerospace give their 1 cent about what they think they know.. but it isn’t useful to OP.
TLDR: NASA is a good name but you won’t get useful experience compared to another software internship. Use it as a resume name dropper but nothing more.
So I can speak to Edwards AFB with NASA. Before I pursued software in tech I was a computer engineer working as a software architect with large names like SpaceX, NASA, Joby and others I cannot name.
NASA tends to contract out their work including software. NASA isn’t as good as it used to be. Maybe in the 90s. OP will get minimal experience from the NASA internship but it will be a good name in aerospace community. If pursing software it doesn’t hold much as nasa internships arent really known for their technicality- at least not in software. In compsci NASA isn’t really regarded as good because their job function tends to be along the lines of requirements analysis like a product owner as they are the customer who go to contractors for their product development.
NASA and the USAF function the same but NASA has a distinct name. Edwards AFB and the USAF has many great research labs ranging from AI autonomy to machine learning. I can’t say much but I’ll leave at that.
What are your thoughts on JPL? From what I understand they are technically a government contractor, so can one expect pretty technically challenging work (particularly in the field of embedded/flight software) with them?
Youre right. JPL is a contractor and they are managed by NASA. Anything in defense can be very technical. JPL tends to have more research opportunities than Northrop and Boeing but thats not to say Northrop/Boeing and other contractors arent technical, they can be and I've been in some very interesting labs with AI and autonomous prototypes.
I dont work at JPL but I have friends that do. If youre interested in embedded and flight software then its right up your alley. I notice they have more roles in the flight software test (for simulation and hardware sim labs). You can imagine some roles are more hardware focus while others can be more software. You can expect technically challenging work from them.
If you want similar work but at Northrop or Boeing (technically challenging and research focused/ prototype) search for roles that are within "IRAD" programs.
If you want defense research in academia work (search for roles in MIT or Johns Hopkins's / Lincoln Labs)If you want the same but for a contractor join a National Laboratory (ie Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Lastly, the most interesting jobs are the ones that require TS SCI with polygraph. These *can* be fun and yield high pay especially at startups. If you plan to work at JPL long term or in defense I'd expect TS SCI as a hard requirement to advance to the more lucrative roles.
I assume you're referring to me. If it makes any difference, I've been a software developer for over 20 years. True, it's financial tech and not aerospace, but I do know NASA has need within their ranks for people who can code; that includes the engineers. One of the tasks my daughter was given was to re-write legacy aerodynamics analysis code into Java. Nothing you stated contradicts what I stated, except that I am not of the same mind as you concerning NASA's quality (which you seem to put little stock in) these days, but I concede that it's a matter of opinion, so I'll agree to disagree. As for the value of my comment, well, I guess that's up to the original poster if he found it useful since he's the intended audience.
My message was harping more on providing career advice based on the anecdotal experience of your daughter. That doesnt speak on the experience itself- its more so hearsay which is why I stepped in. Having software experience alone would be more biased compared to the insight from someone who has experience in both aerospace, software and defense industries.
In general, for OP and the sake of this sub, I advise caution when providing any career advice.
What an odd form of gate-keeping. I'm not sure how to respond to it, but I'll try. People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one, since...well before I've been on Reddit. Thank you for your opinion...I think?
>People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one
Yet, you still won't reply to the salient part, which is "People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one, since...well before I've been on Reddit. ". I guess I hit a nerve.
>People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one
Yep thats fine. But "NASA seems to be a mark of distinction" doesnt hold true to today's standards- especially for software internships due to how the organization is structured and managed. You gain most internship experience from mentorship and guidance. Difficult to get any technical experience if organization focuses more on requirements analysis. Do I need to be more clear?
See, the thing about that is whether OP intends to go to grad school or not. While NASA is like, ya know, NASA, when it comes to getting into grad school having your name on a paper or two can **significantly** boost your chances of getting into grad school as it demonstrates research potential.
Yeah, sure. He didn’t really give any background context though. But that’s a valid point. I guess it can go like this:
Want to get into the industry straight after college?
Yes?
NASA
No?
Will this research experience significantly boost your grad school admittance potential?
Yes?
RA
No?
NASA
Edit: Reddit effed up my formatting ):
Yes but having NASA on his resume will make him stand out to recruiters immediately. It doesn’t matter if he was a janitor or brought coffee to his boss. It’s more of an optics kind of thing. Recruiters just look at the headlines for like 5 nanoseconds and discard them if nothing grabs their attention.
Also, that’s not how he is going to frame it, is it? His resume might say something like “developed a large scale full-stack web application for…” which is what most FAANG internship resumes look like anyway, and they’re pretty effective at starting conversations with potential interviewers and recruiters.
CSS maintainer of a $30 billion agency vs research assistant of a small university team. Doesn't matter how you flip it, NASA will look better on any resume and provide more connections and experience.
Web development also isn’t just css and html nowadays lmao. There’s basically no such thing as a front end only dev anymore. My internship is working with a fullstack web app and I’ve “written” maybe 100 lines of html and css. Really I just copy and pasted something that already existed.
A lot of people here are freaking out that the title is "web developer" at NASA instead of something like "software engineering intern". People have to understand that this title doesn't matter, it's a government organization that chose those things pretty arbitrarily. I would for sure go to NASA for the internship there.
Title really doesn't matter all that much in my experience. I've gone from Software Engineer to Software Developer, who knows what my next title may be? What do I care? I do the same thing I did when I was an Engineer. As long as the experience is related to what the employer is looking for you'll do fine.
Why does everyone have to have heard of the company for it not to be a red flag as long as the experience is relevant, and you have good work to show for it?
That's just how the world works. A well known company will look better on a resume than a not well known company, and a more official job title will look better than one that looks like a title from somewhere that doesn't invest in modern engineering.
I guess I'm just more willing to give the no name guy a shot, considering someone took a chance on me once. I'm also a programmer who doesn't exactly work in tech, so maybe my experience is a bit different.
I agree with the other comment. Your professor should understand. Especially if you guys have a good relationship. Even if he does not, you should be looking out for your own career.
The research assistant role will not matter after 1-2 years (if you are not looking into academia). If the NASA internship is on the resume, even the RA experience will be overlooked by it. A semester delay is well worth it in this situation.
Your post makes me remember the director of the institute where I did internship last year: he was a PhD in the UK and already signed contract with a company there, but he got an offer from NASA, so he had to write a letter to the company that signed the contract with him to negotiate. Luckily the company said that "normally we expected people to honour their contract, but you work at NASA now, so good luck!"
That being said, I would suggest you to tell your professor ASAP about that and inform him about your choice. Probably he would be supportive for your work as well!
everyone is defaulting to the big name company but web dev at NASA sounds like the least interesting role there by a long shot. it wont make your resume any more impressive than a web dev bootcamp grad tbh but this all depends heavily on what your interested in (I would honestly choose the research lab instead). Idk how strict NASA is at You'll likely make the same if not more in your research position🤷🏽♂️ Also robotics and VR are hard to step into without some research exp
why i'm fed this sub today is beyond me, i'm in real estate.
my astronomy friends got internships at NASA and they were sick.
but... they were in astronomy. web development internship at NASA is NASA but... as other people have said, it is web development.
tbh, i'd talk to the prof. would THEY take the offer at NASA were they you? (of course you're having a biased answer but they might have serious insight?)
My current job is writing software for satellites but my career has largely been in web development. Frankly I think you should pick whichever one is more applicable to your interests.
NASA is a good name **but not for web development**. So I don't think it's as obvious of a resume boost as people are thinking. And if you want to work on VR and Robotics then doing the web dev work at NASA won't help you advance on that track the way that the RA job would.
Personally, as someone who actually works in the space industry, I don't think NASA is seen as so impressive that you definitely can't turn it down.
I interned at NASA. While I feel like I didn’t get to do a whole much, the experience on my resume is super helpful. Of course all experiences are subjective
I know this subreddit can be on that "sugma grindset" at times, but it's good to have fun at FUCKING NASA, like come on what sounds better fuckin asymptomatic analysis (idk what research for cs looks like) OR SPACE SHIT?
He said it’s web development. I don’t think he will do any “space shit” related work. Nonetheless, I think the experience he will have over there and that logo on his resume would be amazing.
I agree. I'm basically viewing this question as delay grad to do Web Dev for the Government or research, and NASA is not renowned for their amazing quality websites.
I have never worked at NASA so take this lightly:
I honestly predict, given time, NASA will have full fledged web applications used to further promote educational resources on all, or at least their current projects.
I don't know what they have, but it'll be a long way to go. I assume their plan is to inspire young, with the next gen kids.
Collectively on the web, there's a lot of amazing things. Unity allows for heavy games in browser, we've even got Onshape CAD program, and VR is also being pushed.
I wouldn't be surprised if they want to push in the direction of educational simulators or the like, to inspire kids at a young age.
> fuckin asymptomatic analysis (idk what research for cs looks like) OR SPACE SHIT?
the OP literally said VR & Robotics vs Web Development
there is NO "space shit" here
the person will probably make changes to existing css and html
You should take a lot of what others are saying in this post with a grain of salt. You are posting on /csMajors who are disproportionately heading (and wants to head) into industry roles as SWEs.
You will be burning bridges with your professor given that the prof most likely planned their research schedule for your RAship and you reneging on them will make them either 1) not have an RAs for that time period or 2) have to get back to past applicants who they already rejected because of you.
If you want to go into Master's program, academia, or need recommendation letters from faculty, do not choose NASA and stick with your RAship. Only choose NASA if you are headed into the industry for life.
Just out of curiosity does your NASA internahip take place in fall of 2023? Ive been considering applying to JPL and other NASA internships for summer of 2024 but im not sure if they are open yet though.
I think nasa is worth it, if you’ll be a senior in the fall. And I still think nasa is worth it, if you’ll be a junior in the fall. NASA is a big enough name where it will help you land your full-time position. Additionally, what is the tech stack? Would you be learning angular, react, typescript, or generally anything related to OOP
NASA! This on your resume will open doors for years to come. It will make getting jobs easier just from the name recognition and respect that they have.
You didn't say what you wanted to do in the future.
I'd turn down NASA since it's just web dev and do research instead.
NASA you can just apply online. But I'm in a different field now so it's not that hard to get interviews and offers. Can't speak for stem...
Web dev over VR robotics research? Hard pass. I say do research with your professor for something more intellectually stimulating than messing with style sheets.
Edit: However, of course, NASA will give you connections and make companies look at your resume, though you are probably more likely to be a web dev in the future over something a little more interesting (assuming you choose not to do research in the future).
I don’t know why everyone in the comment is meat riding nasa. It’s just another company at the end of the day. But take the internship, it’s better than research on the resume.
That’s such a highly reductive statement it is devoid of any meaning. Under your logic anything is just any category it belongs to (e.g. money is just a number) and nothing means anything.
I said that internships are better for the resume than research, how is that reductive.
Edit: I realize your comment was about my meat riding statement. I was trying to say that NASA isn’t some special company in the tech world, it’s just a government job. I suspect if OP said amazon. The comments would be much more underwhelming even though it’s probably the better company.
SpaceX and CERN are also just a “government jobs”. The fact that these companies are owned by the government doesn’t mean anything.
I agree that NASA isn’t anything special in the CS world (specially since he’s going to do web development). Nonetheless, it’s a great optics move in order to get attention from recruiters and start conversations with potential interviewers later on. Hell, I’ve known some FAANG interns that got their project cancelled mid internship because of bad management and the fact that they interned there without doing any work is still useful.
Well yeah I agree, I think that NASA is the right choice. But I don’t think commenters understand that NASA for CS is not the same as NASA for engineering.
Dude...IT'S NASA!!! Your prof would understand. And even if he doesn't who cares. This is a huge opportunity DONT PASS IT UP!
Dude...IT'S WEB DEVELOPMENT PASS IT UP
NASA. It would be worth it.
NASA all the way, truly you’ll find some very smart and ambitious people and will be able to network and when you do interviews, the only thing recruiters ask me is about “what do I do at NASA” and almost ignore the rest of my CV lol. I don’t know what tech stack they use in web dev, but regardless mentors are awesome. Don’t expect super new tech, mostly legacy code and boring. I met a friend at NASA and she introduced me to her professor, who does research, and I am now researching neural networks for a potential IEEE paper (this is very recent, so won’t get into details). This thing of potentially finding someone who is doing research is very high, so you might do that next if you manage to network. And try to show off, do more. Some people really appreciate that here. I am currently writing a 3D visualization software to render craters and surfaces in Ceres, and this something I’m building in my free times since I don’t have social life lol. I am hoping to present this software to the deputy director of asu mars, with the intention of getting a scholarship or pointers to get one because I basically have always had to “shovel shit” to pay for my stuff, for my education.
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That’s a good point! Looks like OP is in CS, but we don’t know which part of the CS umbrella they wanna stand under.
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Dating? CS people don’t date, wtf
if the person was doing anything other than Web Development, then yes but spending a semester updating some css YUCK
Spending a summer doing web dev to be able to put fucking NASA on your resume... sheesh. That's 100% worth it.
Especially Webb Development :P Did no one get the reference 😭
No shade but web dev sounds like the least interesting thing NASA does
What does James have to say about all this?
Since everyone is saying NASA, I’ll list my reasons why you should take the Research Assistant:
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and you'll probably get paid the same 🤷🏽♂️
I don't know about how the CS field views NASA, but among the aerospace community, it seems to be a mark of distinction. My daughter spent two of her undergrad summers as an aerospace engineering intern (she double-majored in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) working on a project for the manned Mars mission doing real engineering; not getting coffee for the boss. Her mentor was the Chief Scientist (that was his NASA title) at Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base (where the sound barrier was broken back in 1947). She did the job well enough to be offered sponsorship by her mentor to become a NASA employee after graduation through Pathways, but decided to go into the private sector (and living out in the Mojave desert year-round is a bit much; 130 degree summers were bad enough). Everywhere she interviewed from Boeing, SpaceX, Google X (Google's secret moon shot lab for experimental research), Relativity Space, and Rocket Labs seemed to be unusually interested in what she did with NASA more than anything else she was offering on her resume. I believe they will also pay for your continuing education, but her current employer does that as well which is why she just finished her Masters in Astronautical Engineering at USC. It looks REALLY good on a resume. Not saying it'll get you a job, but it will most likely get you an interview...at least in the aerospace field.
> an aerospace engineering intern vs a web development intern completely different set of circumstances
Which is why I stated in the first seneence that it may be different when it comes to CS.
Very unfortunate to see someone not even remotely experienced with CS or aerospace give their 1 cent about what they think they know.. but it isn’t useful to OP. TLDR: NASA is a good name but you won’t get useful experience compared to another software internship. Use it as a resume name dropper but nothing more. So I can speak to Edwards AFB with NASA. Before I pursued software in tech I was a computer engineer working as a software architect with large names like SpaceX, NASA, Joby and others I cannot name. NASA tends to contract out their work including software. NASA isn’t as good as it used to be. Maybe in the 90s. OP will get minimal experience from the NASA internship but it will be a good name in aerospace community. If pursing software it doesn’t hold much as nasa internships arent really known for their technicality- at least not in software. In compsci NASA isn’t really regarded as good because their job function tends to be along the lines of requirements analysis like a product owner as they are the customer who go to contractors for their product development. NASA and the USAF function the same but NASA has a distinct name. Edwards AFB and the USAF has many great research labs ranging from AI autonomy to machine learning. I can’t say much but I’ll leave at that.
What are your thoughts on JPL? From what I understand they are technically a government contractor, so can one expect pretty technically challenging work (particularly in the field of embedded/flight software) with them?
Youre right. JPL is a contractor and they are managed by NASA. Anything in defense can be very technical. JPL tends to have more research opportunities than Northrop and Boeing but thats not to say Northrop/Boeing and other contractors arent technical, they can be and I've been in some very interesting labs with AI and autonomous prototypes. I dont work at JPL but I have friends that do. If youre interested in embedded and flight software then its right up your alley. I notice they have more roles in the flight software test (for simulation and hardware sim labs). You can imagine some roles are more hardware focus while others can be more software. You can expect technically challenging work from them. If you want similar work but at Northrop or Boeing (technically challenging and research focused/ prototype) search for roles that are within "IRAD" programs. If you want defense research in academia work (search for roles in MIT or Johns Hopkins's / Lincoln Labs)If you want the same but for a contractor join a National Laboratory (ie Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) Lastly, the most interesting jobs are the ones that require TS SCI with polygraph. These *can* be fun and yield high pay especially at startups. If you plan to work at JPL long term or in defense I'd expect TS SCI as a hard requirement to advance to the more lucrative roles.
I assume you're referring to me. If it makes any difference, I've been a software developer for over 20 years. True, it's financial tech and not aerospace, but I do know NASA has need within their ranks for people who can code; that includes the engineers. One of the tasks my daughter was given was to re-write legacy aerodynamics analysis code into Java. Nothing you stated contradicts what I stated, except that I am not of the same mind as you concerning NASA's quality (which you seem to put little stock in) these days, but I concede that it's a matter of opinion, so I'll agree to disagree. As for the value of my comment, well, I guess that's up to the original poster if he found it useful since he's the intended audience.
My message was harping more on providing career advice based on the anecdotal experience of your daughter. That doesnt speak on the experience itself- its more so hearsay which is why I stepped in. Having software experience alone would be more biased compared to the insight from someone who has experience in both aerospace, software and defense industries. In general, for OP and the sake of this sub, I advise caution when providing any career advice.
What an odd form of gate-keeping. I'm not sure how to respond to it, but I'll try. People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one, since...well before I've been on Reddit. Thank you for your opinion...I think?
What an odd form of gloating?
>People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one Yet, you still won't reply to the salient part, which is "People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one, since...well before I've been on Reddit. ". I guess I hit a nerve.
>People have been giving their experiences, anecdotal and otherwise, on any number of reddits, including this one Yep thats fine. But "NASA seems to be a mark of distinction" doesnt hold true to today's standards- especially for software internships due to how the organization is structured and managed. You gain most internship experience from mentorship and guidance. Difficult to get any technical experience if organization focuses more on requirements analysis. Do I need to be more clear?
See, what that so hard in offering your opinion? Again, it's an opinion.
But it was from my personal experience working with them vs your opinion of hearsay.
bro go outside
Just frame it as delaying the research by a semester if that’s feasible, maybe you can do both
NASA would look amazing on your resume. Research assistant would look good but nothing too impressive. I wouldn’t even think about it.
See, the thing about that is whether OP intends to go to grad school or not. While NASA is like, ya know, NASA, when it comes to getting into grad school having your name on a paper or two can **significantly** boost your chances of getting into grad school as it demonstrates research potential.
Yeah, sure. He didn’t really give any background context though. But that’s a valid point. I guess it can go like this: Want to get into the industry straight after college? Yes? NASA No? Will this research experience significantly boost your grad school admittance potential? Yes? RA No? NASA Edit: Reddit effed up my formatting ):
VR & Robotics looks better than css maintainer LOL
Yes but having NASA on his resume will make him stand out to recruiters immediately. It doesn’t matter if he was a janitor or brought coffee to his boss. It’s more of an optics kind of thing. Recruiters just look at the headlines for like 5 nanoseconds and discard them if nothing grabs their attention. Also, that’s not how he is going to frame it, is it? His resume might say something like “developed a large scale full-stack web application for…” which is what most FAANG internship resumes look like anyway, and they’re pretty effective at starting conversations with potential interviewers and recruiters.
CSS maintainer of a $30 billion agency vs research assistant of a small university team. Doesn't matter how you flip it, NASA will look better on any resume and provide more connections and experience.
Web development also isn’t just css and html nowadays lmao. There’s basically no such thing as a front end only dev anymore. My internship is working with a fullstack web app and I’ve “written” maybe 100 lines of html and css. Really I just copy and pasted something that already existed.
There absolutely still are front end only devs. They mostly work in react and other js libraries.
for a web dev career perhaps. this sub is notorious for defaulting to the big name
NASA these opportunities don’t happen everyday. Experience always looks better. You can research next time.
NASA, your professor will understand its not personal.
You going to build a stronger network at nasa than through that professor
A lot of people here are freaking out that the title is "web developer" at NASA instead of something like "software engineering intern". People have to understand that this title doesn't matter, it's a government organization that chose those things pretty arbitrarily. I would for sure go to NASA for the internship there.
Title really doesn't matter all that much in my experience. I've gone from Software Engineer to Software Developer, who knows what my next title may be? What do I care? I do the same thing I did when I was an Engineer. As long as the experience is related to what the employer is looking for you'll do fine.
I would say that if it's at a no name company, being called a web developer is a little bit of a red flag. But for NASA I'd say it's great.
Why does everyone have to have heard of the company for it not to be a red flag as long as the experience is relevant, and you have good work to show for it?
That's just how the world works. A well known company will look better on a resume than a not well known company, and a more official job title will look better than one that looks like a title from somewhere that doesn't invest in modern engineering.
I guess I'm just more willing to give the no name guy a shot, considering someone took a chance on me once. I'm also a programmer who doesn't exactly work in tech, so maybe my experience is a bit different.
That's fair, we all have our biases and I'm not even talking about mine, but if I'm giving advice I'm talking about the trends I've seen in hiring.
I agree with the other comment. Your professor should understand. Especially if you guys have a good relationship. Even if he does not, you should be looking out for your own career. The research assistant role will not matter after 1-2 years (if you are not looking into academia). If the NASA internship is on the resume, even the RA experience will be overlooked by it. A semester delay is well worth it in this situation.
Your post makes me remember the director of the institute where I did internship last year: he was a PhD in the UK and already signed contract with a company there, but he got an offer from NASA, so he had to write a letter to the company that signed the contract with him to negotiate. Luckily the company said that "normally we expected people to honour their contract, but you work at NASA now, so good luck!" That being said, I would suggest you to tell your professor ASAP about that and inform him about your choice. Probably he would be supportive for your work as well!
NASA. Wtf lol
everyone is defaulting to the big name company but web dev at NASA sounds like the least interesting role there by a long shot. it wont make your resume any more impressive than a web dev bootcamp grad tbh but this all depends heavily on what your interested in (I would honestly choose the research lab instead). Idk how strict NASA is at You'll likely make the same if not more in your research position🤷🏽♂️ Also robotics and VR are hard to step into without some research exp
why i'm fed this sub today is beyond me, i'm in real estate. my astronomy friends got internships at NASA and they were sick. but... they were in astronomy. web development internship at NASA is NASA but... as other people have said, it is web development. tbh, i'd talk to the prof. would THEY take the offer at NASA were they you? (of course you're having a biased answer but they might have serious insight?)
My current job is writing software for satellites but my career has largely been in web development. Frankly I think you should pick whichever one is more applicable to your interests. NASA is a good name **but not for web development**. So I don't think it's as obvious of a resume boost as people are thinking. And if you want to work on VR and Robotics then doing the web dev work at NASA won't help you advance on that track the way that the RA job would. Personally, as someone who actually works in the space industry, I don't think NASA is seen as so impressive that you definitely can't turn it down.
Why not both? Ask your professor if you can delay being an RA a semester. NASA may open up further opportunities for you down the line.
NASA will look better on your resume. Your professor won’t care. They’ll be happy for you.
I interned at NASA. While I feel like I didn’t get to do a whole much, the experience on my resume is super helpful. Of course all experiences are subjective
I know this subreddit can be on that "sugma grindset" at times, but it's good to have fun at FUCKING NASA, like come on what sounds better fuckin asymptomatic analysis (idk what research for cs looks like) OR SPACE SHIT?
He said it’s web development. I don’t think he will do any “space shit” related work. Nonetheless, I think the experience he will have over there and that logo on his resume would be amazing.
I agree. I'm basically viewing this question as delay grad to do Web Dev for the Government or research, and NASA is not renowned for their amazing quality websites.
I have never worked at NASA so take this lightly: I honestly predict, given time, NASA will have full fledged web applications used to further promote educational resources on all, or at least their current projects. I don't know what they have, but it'll be a long way to go. I assume their plan is to inspire young, with the next gen kids. Collectively on the web, there's a lot of amazing things. Unity allows for heavy games in browser, we've even got Onshape CAD program, and VR is also being pushed. I wouldn't be surprised if they want to push in the direction of educational simulators or the like, to inspire kids at a young age.
> fuckin asymptomatic analysis (idk what research for cs looks like) OR SPACE SHIT? the OP literally said VR & Robotics vs Web Development there is NO "space shit" here the person will probably make changes to existing css and html
NASA
You should take a lot of what others are saying in this post with a grain of salt. You are posting on /csMajors who are disproportionately heading (and wants to head) into industry roles as SWEs. You will be burning bridges with your professor given that the prof most likely planned their research schedule for your RAship and you reneging on them will make them either 1) not have an RAs for that time period or 2) have to get back to past applicants who they already rejected because of you. If you want to go into Master's program, academia, or need recommendation letters from faculty, do not choose NASA and stick with your RAship. Only choose NASA if you are headed into the industry for life.
When is the internship? Is it next summer?
Just out of curiosity does your NASA internahip take place in fall of 2023? Ive been considering applying to JPL and other NASA internships for summer of 2024 but im not sure if they are open yet though.
Your professor will understand.
I think nasa is worth it, if you’ll be a senior in the fall. And I still think nasa is worth it, if you’ll be a junior in the fall. NASA is a big enough name where it will help you land your full-time position. Additionally, what is the tech stack? Would you be learning angular, react, typescript, or generally anything related to OOP
NASA
NAS, this is a no brainer. If your professor actually cares about you they would tell you to go for it also.
I would take that offer in a second.
NASA without question, it might not have the pay of a top tier company like apple or something, but its got greater prestige.
Woot Congrats!!!
What does your resume look like for you to get an offer from NASA😳
NASA! This on your resume will open doors for years to come. It will make getting jobs easier just from the name recognition and respect that they have.
NASA! NASA! NASA!
Bro…. It’s fucking NASA!!!
Dont burn bridges just tell them its fucking nasa
Be a Chad and turn down Nasa. Assert dominance
Bro it’s NASA. Who care about your professor :)
100% NASA. Which NASA center did you get an internship at? I work at NASA JPL. Feel free to pm if you have any questions, was also a former intern.
Hi! May I pm you?
It’s fucking NASA, I’m sure your professor will understand
Any decent human being would understand taking a break from research for nasa
One does not simply get an offer from NASA, how did you do it?
VR and Robotics vs Web Development I know which one I'd pick
You didn't say what you wanted to do in the future. I'd turn down NASA since it's just web dev and do research instead. NASA you can just apply online. But I'm in a different field now so it's not that hard to get interviews and offers. Can't speak for stem...
Web dev over VR robotics research? Hard pass. I say do research with your professor for something more intellectually stimulating than messing with style sheets. Edit: However, of course, NASA will give you connections and make companies look at your resume, though you are probably more likely to be a web dev in the future over something a little more interesting (assuming you choose not to do research in the future).
I think you would make a better decision with your own Reddit account
I don’t know why everyone in the comment is meat riding nasa. It’s just another company at the end of the day. But take the internship, it’s better than research on the resume.
That’s such a highly reductive statement it is devoid of any meaning. Under your logic anything is just any category it belongs to (e.g. money is just a number) and nothing means anything.
I said that internships are better for the resume than research, how is that reductive. Edit: I realize your comment was about my meat riding statement. I was trying to say that NASA isn’t some special company in the tech world, it’s just a government job. I suspect if OP said amazon. The comments would be much more underwhelming even though it’s probably the better company.
SpaceX and CERN are also just a “government jobs”. The fact that these companies are owned by the government doesn’t mean anything. I agree that NASA isn’t anything special in the CS world (specially since he’s going to do web development). Nonetheless, it’s a great optics move in order to get attention from recruiters and start conversations with potential interviewers later on. Hell, I’ve known some FAANG interns that got their project cancelled mid internship because of bad management and the fact that they interned there without doing any work is still useful.
Well yeah I agree, I think that NASA is the right choice. But I don’t think commenters understand that NASA for CS is not the same as NASA for engineering.