NASA -- It's not Apollo anymore - Manager NASA Employee Review

2.0
Jun 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great toys, motivating mission. A very talented and dedicated workforce. The standard benefits of working for the federal government if that's important to you -- health care, pension, and you can't be fired.

Cons

NASA, despite it's reputation amongst those who have never worked with it, is primarily a government bureaucracy. It is not the organization that gave us Apollo. The technology used in mainline spacecraft development programs is many years behind the current state-of-the-art, due to an overly risk-averse, conservative, and bureaucratic approach to engineering & program management. Perhaps due to advanced age of most of the workers, there is tremendous resistance to any solution that isn't similar to what has been done in previous projects. Due to civil service protections and lack of new programs, there are few management or leadership opportunities for young engineers or new hires -- you must wait for many years before a position above you clears out before you can get a position that can "make a difference".

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5.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Interesting, learning opportunity, decent work life balance

Cons

Difficult coding challenges but overall great experience

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