i should have been paying more attention to NASA’s Perseverance rover. not because i’m a space geek (i’m not), but because this whole effort reflects a kind of seriousness and precision, of focussed industriousness with almost zero margin for error that is so rare in much of the rest of what we see in our current culture. this is what smart people are capable of.
NASA engineers probably tweet, and keep up with high school friends and family across the country via facebook just like the rest of us. but while at work, i’m guessing there’s a pretty intense attention paid to the accuracy of the work. do NASA scientists go online shopping while off-camera in Teams meetings? are specs hastily put together before being checked and then double-checked, their authors shrugging with a resigned, “it’s probably good enough?” do reports get published with avoidable typos, spelling errors, clumsy grammar?
imagine if this level of precision were more commonplace. i would expect, at the very least, that my microsoft office 365 wouldn’t be quite so glitchy.
on top of everything else they had to do, someone at NASA took the time to create a code used to hide an inspiring message in the parachute of Perseverance, proving that even in the midst of unwaveringly high standards, there’s room for creativity and delight.
it’s most certainly too late in my career to consider changing fields. but i can at least strive to bring a little more NASA in my approach to doing the work that i do.
eleven bee 