NASA Engineer Molly Bittner on Cassini and Space-Based Games

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion discuss Jason’s return to the new and (possibly) improved No Man’s Sky (0:55), then bring on colleague Justin Charity to talk about celebrity streamer PewDiePie’s latest offense, indie developer Campo Santo’s response, the uncertain symbiosis between streamers and publishers, and why gamers get toxic online (5:55). Then they bring on NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory systems engineer Molly Bittner to discuss her work on NASA's Cassini and Europa Clipper missions, what it’s like to talk to a spacecraft, how she finds time to play games while working at NASA, and her thoughts on Hellblade as well as Destiny 2, Mass Effect, Kerbal Space Program, and other space-based games (22:40). Lastly, Ben and Jason welcome The Ringer’s Rob Harvilla to reflect on the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Metroid, share his impressions of the newly released Metroid: Samus Returns, and explain why Metroid might be gaming’s greatest space series (53:13).