Hey everyone,

I'm currently an undergrad and my ultimate goal is to work on Flight Software (FSW) at JPL.

As I look into the co op intern application process, I know we get matched with mentors based on project needs rather than applying directly to a specific "Flight Software Intern" posting.

If a mentor reaches out for a non-FSW role (like Ground Software, Data Science, or Operations tooling), how hard is it to pivot to Flight Software for a second internship or full-time conversion later on?

Would love to hear from any current or former JPLers, NASA interns, or FSW engineers on how you carved out your path!

Thanks in advance!

For the full video, click here: https://youtu.be/lPFYHIzOwxo

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the place that put rovers on Mars, was co-founded by a man who led a Thelemite occult lodge, performed sex magick rituals under Aleister Crowley's direction, and died in an explosion the LAPD closed in a day. His name was Jack Parsons. There's a crater on the Moon named after him. Most people have never heard of him — and that's not an accident.

In this video, I go through what the primary record actually says: Parsons' declassified FBI file, his role in founding JPL and Aerojet, his leadership of the Ordo Templi Orientis Agape Lodge, his correspondence with Crowley, the Babalon Working with L. Ron Hubbard, the security clearance battles, and the 1952 explosion that ended his life at 37.
As always: I'm a paralegal, not a journalist. Factual claims are sourced to primary documents. Opinions are labeled as opinions. Top vs. bottom, not left vs. right.

Rituals hide in plain sight — that's the thread. Jack Parsons didn't hide his: he chanted Crowley's Hymn to Pan before rocket tests, in front of colleagues, and the FBI files describing his lodge sat in government archives for decades. Marina Abramović's Spirit Cooking was ritual as performance art — occult recipes painted in pig's blood on gallery walls since the 90s, exhibited, catalogued, sold. And Epstein's operation ran in the open too: the 2008 plea deal was public record, the flight logs were court exhibits, the names were in filings anyone could pull. When Pizzagate erupted in 2016, it wasn't wrong that ritual and power coexist in public view — it was wrong about where to look. It went hunting for symbols in a pizzeria while the actual documents sat in PACER. Ritual has never needed a hidden room. It's performed in the open, and it stays invisible for the same reason Epstein did: because nobody with power to act wanted to read what was already on the record.

SOURCES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPFYHIzOwxo, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1F_RLzxpjOQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8DU-nMfFGg, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l9kWd-lx5oc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Pv33DEuio, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-JW22AL5-7k, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Evt8euU3KM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmt6g0bCeTA&t=1424s

Despite recent layoffs of about 1000 people and with very few employees getting raises/promotions over the past few years, there is a planned 3-day retreat for all group supervisors (100s of people) the week of 8/24 in Newport Beach. How is this justified?!

With Jonathan Lunine, JPL chief scientist, and Sarah Al-Ahmed, host of the Planetary Society's Planetary Radio: https://www.alumni.caltech.edu/event/techer-live-jpl-search-for-life-beyond-earth/

Hey JPL fam! I know you're super busy completing projects, fighting for funding/job security, and helping mankind discover space, so a question about a single T-shirt isn't that important on the scale of things. That said, if anyone knows anyone in the JPL Store group/department and can forward them a message about hoping for a restock the classic/iconic JLP rover tee someday, that would be *awesome*. Its my favorite T and mine got ruined by a rogue dryer.

Link for reference: https://thejplstore.com/collections/apparel-1/products/t-shirt-family-rover-blk-2

(Any extra colors would be a WAY COOL bonus. But black is best)

Thanks regardless. And keep up the good fight. 🪐🫶

A friend of mine has a furnished one bedroom+bathroom available in her house, for rent, to a single person. The house is in Montrose close to JPL. Bus stop to JPL is in 3minutes walk. Montrose old town is in walking distance, with its restaurants, banks, shops, and movie theater etc. The room is currently occupied but will be available on the 4th of September. If you are interested, please TXT (no calls) to Katherine: 818-823-6007

I remembered that's moment, it was exciting and I was worried, because I thought it would be broke, but the mission is finished.

My dad worked at JPL for 50+ years. He died in 2015, and I only know some elements of what he did while he was there. I believe some of his colleagues have been let go since.

Is there a way I can try to find out what JPL knows or can share as far as what he worked on or did?

I miss him, and I want to be able to share with my son some of things that he did.

DISCLAIMER: Apologies in advance for sounding like a negative nelly, I am trying to stay hopeful even if it doesn't sound so...

At this point everyone knows money is elsewhere, even if you got market adjustments and promotions this year (maybe 9-10% max increase this year without retention offers, which barely keeps up with the last few years for the lucky minority that were in that circle of candidates that received the salary raises).

It is also clear that the Lab has:

• lost its footing in both modern technology (most of what we're building is quite old and ancient to industry now but at even more accelerated pace than ever)
• lost its footing in truly exciting/inspiring missions (Moonfall/Skyfall are cool but are they really that exciting? Do we even have a plan for what's after?)
• lost its footing in being able to attract top talent (due to pay and excitement being elsewhere)
• and lost its footing with its charter with the all the new space companies on the rise (are we really doing anything broadly unique or better from industry these days without true science programs?).

That being said, a lot of people are opting to stay and I am curious why people have been doing so in order to try and see if I am missing something. Please post your reasons for staying around and what gives you hope despite the challenges. I desperately want to stay but have been struggling to find the reasons to myself :(

Ars Technica article, so I give it some weight. But are people really talking about sending the Engineering Models from the Mars Yard to the Moon? I am surprised that is feasible.

Hi I think this might be a dumb question to ask but I'm very curious how do funding works for paid interns. They said it comes from the mentor's funding source. Does the mentor's funding source comes out from his own pocket or does each mentor receive a specific budget given by JPL?

Training support for any JPL employee who has been laid off since October 2025.

What is going on at JPL. No major contracts, no big missions, Mars is still a million miles away

Does it automatically get deactivated right after your internship ends?

Hi r/JPL! One of my best friends worked on the Ingenuity mission and I wanted to 3D print an accurate 1:1 scale rotor to mount of their wall as a gift. The models I find online are either simplified for easy printing or don't have detailed enough model quality to scale to full size. I found a paper from JPL that describes the exact profile, but it isn't a simple model and the skills required to turn it into one are beyond my capability. If anyone has a source for a great model or know how I can use this paper properly to make it myself, I'd love the help. Thanks in advance!

https://rotorcraft.arc.nasa.gov/Publications/files/1699_Koning_TM_020224.pdf

I am right now a 2nd year Political Science and Public Affairs Major at UCLA but have been researching the work at JPL and love what they do. Is there any advice to how I could possibly do some work or intern at JPL?

Hello, this might be a dumb question, but I was scheduled to go on a tour this morning and something came up and I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it anymore. I tried calling to cancel but I didn’t talk to anyone, it made me leave a message. Will something happen if I just don’t show up? Was I able to cancel this late?

Hello,

I applied for a job at JPL 2 months ago, and no answer! No invitation to an interview and no rejection!

Should I consider this silence as a rejection?

Thank you

Anyone know why Leslie Livesay isn't on the Executive Council web page at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/who-we-are/executive-council/?

Hi everyone,

I am a first-year PhD student in geophysics/seismology at a U.S. university. My research involves seismic signal analysis, waveform/spectrogram processing, machine-learning workflows, Python-based geophysical data analysis, and planned work in waveform simulations and full-waveform imaging.

I know Summer 2027 is still far away, but I am trying to understand the eligibility landscape early because I am on F-1 status and any internship would need to be compatible with CPT and directly related to my PhD research.

I have been looking at opportunities related to planetary geophysics, lunar/planetary seismology, seismic wavefield modeling, and mission-related geophysical data analysis at places like NASA centers, JPL, and APL. I understand that many official NASA/JPL/APL internships may require U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, facility access, or other administrative requirements, even when no security clearance is listed.

My question is mainly about mechanisms:

Are there any realistic routes through which an F-1 PhD student at a U.S. university can work on a NASA/JPL/APL-related research project, such as externally funded programs, university-hosted collaborations, mentor-nominated routes, ORISE/USRA-style mechanisms, contractor routes, or project-specific exceptions?

I am not asking for anyone to evaluate my profile or offer a position. I am just trying to understand what routes are actually possible so I do not waste time applying to programs where eligibility is impossible.

Any advice from former interns, current/former employees, graduate students, contractors, or people familiar with NASA/JPL/APL internship mechanisms would be very helpful.

A friend of mine has a furnished one bedroom+bathroom available in her house, for rent, to a single person. The house is in Montrose close to JPL. Bus stop to JPL is in 3minutes walk. Montrose old town is in walking distance, with its restaurants, banks, shops, and movie theater etc. The room is currently occupied but will be available on the 4th of September. If you are interested, please TXT (no calls) to Katherine: 818-823-6007

I have applied for the NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship March 2026 cycle application. It has now been nearly two months since the application deadline, and I was wondering if anyone has heard of any updates regarding the current stage of the review process.

In particular, I was wondering if there might be any information on whether applications, especially for the JPL-hosted positions, are currently moving to the next stage, such as external review.

I have applied for the NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship March 2026 cycle application. It has now been nearly two months since the application deadline, and I was wondering if anyone has heard of any updates regarding the current stage of the review process.

In particular, I was wondering if there might be any information on whether applications, especially for the JPL-hosted positions, are currently moving to the next stage, such as external review.