The coolest thing I found at NASA's famous robot lab was in the parking lot

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is known for building awesome Mars-exploring robots and spacecraft that sends back data from billions of miles away, but you don't necessarily need to go inside the restricted labs to see something cool.

You can just take a stroll through the parking lot.

There are around 5,500 people working at JPL most days, and with plenty of NASA stickers gracing car bumpers, many are proud of their work. But I found one employee who takes that to the next level.

Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider

The back of this car looks like just a bunch of random bumper stickers, but it actually tells a story of science and exploration. It tells of a researcher's life story, intertwined with some of the most brilliant space discoveries of the last few decades.

There are Texas A&M stickers abound, and judging by sticker claims alone, it's a safe bet that this former Aggie studied meteorology and atmospheric sciences. And if the number of stickers represent programs the car owner was involved in, I count roughly seven different missions this sticker lover worked on.

There's a sticker for Juno, the spacecraft that'll start sending us high-resolution photos back from Jupiter in July.

On the left bumper, there's a sticker for Ares I-X, a prototype launch system developed for launching astronauts into space once the Space Shuttle was retired.

To its right, a sticker for STS-130, the 2010 shuttle mission that delivered the cupola to the International Space Station, providing sweeping 360-degree views.

Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider

"I can do this," one sticker reads. "It ain't rocket surgery." Another on the right bumper asks, "Have you hugged a rocket scientist today?"

But perhaps the most exciting, and incredibly unique stickers, mention Mars. There's a sticker for the Mars Science Laboratory, or what we know as the Curiosity rover. "My other vehicle zaps rocks on Mars!" another boasts.

Obviously there's no way to know whether this employee is working on all these programs (Though I can't imagine anyone but a quirky scientist researching sand particles on Mars slapping stickers like "If found, return to Mars" on their car).

Paul Szoldra/Tech Insider

But we can take away an important lesson in one sticker positioned above the license plate. Much like robotic spacecraft explored the Moon long before Neil Armstrong set foot on it, the same goes for Mars. Today it's the Curiosity rover sending back incredible photos, but tomorrow, humans will be stepping on Mars, and building so much more.

It's Mars or Bust.

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