During his Junior and Senior years (1959-1961) at General William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Jardine competed in Gymnastics on the Trampoline.
During the three years of his formal education at Northrop, Jardine worked evenings as a draftsman at North American Aviation in Los Angeles, California.
Immediately following his graduation from Northrop University in 1967, Jardine was hired by Martin Marietta as a specialist in computer-simulated space-flight mechanics, shaping trajectories for earth satellite and interplanetary missions.
[5] In 1982, Ray and his wife Jenny sailed around the world in three years aboard their 41-foot ketch Suka (an acronym for "Seeking UnKnown Adventures").
[7] Starting on November 11, 2006, at the Patriot Hills Base Camp on Antarctica, Ray and his wife Jenny skied to the South Pole.