[justapassenger]

> Which is a real shame because I’d have loved to work for Space X but what a way to put people off.

Space X is good place to work for if you’re willing to put 80h per week for below average pay, while working for wealthiest person in the world. Cool place to possibly jump start your career in the industry, but not a great place to be for any significant amount of time.

[exdsq]

I just wanted to write code that ends up in space :)

[Balgair]

There are a lot of grad students out there that would love to talk to you and need the help badly.

If you really would like to write space-bound code, I would suggest reaching out to the grad students directly. Nearly all space science programs have dozens of students currently working on instruments or platforms that will be going into space in the next few years.

To get you started, here's the faculty page for ASU: https://sese.asu.edu/people/faculty You can chose any other university any where on the planet too.

Look through some of the labs there. Find a project you may like to work with. Contact the grad students on the PI's homepage directly. You do not need to talk to the professor beforehand. I'll repeat, there is no level of politeness that says you need to talk to the professor beforehand; talking to the grad students directly is perfectly acceptable. See if the grad student needs a hand and what with.

I will warn you, they are scientists that begrudgingly code, they are not coders. Their code is downright cringe in it's simplicity. That's because they are scientists first. Do not try to introduce complex concepts like git to them.

I would really really encourage you to reach out and lend a hand, they need it.

[exdsq]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out!

[elkos]

If you are interested in writing open-source code that ends up in space. Don't hesitate to check Libre Space Foundation's repositories https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/ there are several open-source software and hardware projects currently in development including satellites and their components. More info on the organization here: https://libre.space

Disclaimer: I'm the vice-chair of the organization, and I might be biased.

[exdsq]

I absolutely am! I'll check it out, thanks :)

[Dunedan]

Another way to achieve that would be to contribute to Open Source software. Github for example awarded a badge to developers who contributed to libraries which are used by the helicopter on Mars to make such achievements more transparent: https://github.blog/changelog/2021-04-19-new-badge-for-devel...