Randy Cassingham worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 10 years, and watched the Cassini spacecraft being built. Here he talks about the brain behind the mission design, right up to the time he went back to California to be there when Cassini was intentionally destroyed.
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Originally Published December 30, 2024 — Last Updated December 31, 2024- About the Author
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Kit is the co-founder of Residential Cruising, and is best known as a longevity mindset coach at Live in Focused Energy. She and her husband, Randy, live full-time on the Residential Cruising ship Villa Vie Odyssey, where they are “Digital Nomads” — continuing their work while living aboard the ship.
Just listened to the Cassino talk — that was great! You were in the thick of it.
Your talks make it so clear how lucky you are and have been. What a wonderful thing to have been part of, even on the side.
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Yep. Sure I’ve worked hard, but I want to acknowledge that luck has been a big factor too. -rc
Your comments about the openness of the people at JPL is similar to comments made by the Myth Busters. I got to hear them do a keynote talk at a PTC conference years ago (unfortunately, they did not publish a link to the recording like they did for the others. Probably due to contract restrictions).
They talked about how two guys without science background but a lot of curiosity were accepted by a number of very high end groups (JPL was specifically listed) and were able to have very informative conversations with these brilliant people.
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I would enjoy listening to that one. At the JPL work level, knowledge and ability is valued more than degrees. (Degrees get you in there, and help determine pay scale, but you had better be able to perform.) I was welcomed despite my non-science degree, and was recruited to projects because I proved my worth. One of my frequent bosses would address me as “Dr. Cassingham” knowing full well I didn’t have the degree to match, but I took it as a sign of great respect. (He himself moved up quite high with “only” an M.S.) So indeed it is no surprise that the MythBusters were warmly welcomed by JPLers. And it probably won’t surprise you that my recent AMA video series was inspired in part by Adam’s Q&A videos on Youtube, even though I may not ever get to Adam’s ease on camera! But I’m working on it. -rc