Leland Melvin: An astronaut's story of curiosity, perspective and change
利蘭.梅爾文: 一位太空人的故事:好奇心、觀感與改變
Leland Melvin is an engineer, educator, former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver. He shares his stories of perseverance and excellence to inspire communities for lasting positive change. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
on the set in the front,
媽媽調整室內天線的那個人。
for my dad, and my sister and my mom.
這個方向,我們看不到畫面。」
move this way, we can't see the screen."
one giant leap for mankind."
是人類的一大步。」
were walking on the Moon.
和伯茲 · 艾德林在月球上行走。
in Lynchburg, Virginia,
維吉尼亞的林奇堡,
in a kind of somewhat racist town.
住在一個有種族歧視的小鎮。
what I was going to do with my life.
they were educators,
all the kids in the neighborhood
鄰里中的所有孩子
an astronaut?"
and I don't see someone who looks like me.
也沒看見外表跟我類似的人。
on Pierce Street
about his character, his discipline,
我並不想成為上月球的人。
one of those moon guys.
he played in a band,
for my sister and I
讓我姐姐和我可以上鋼琴課,
with education.
into the driveway with this bread truck.
while my dad's driving the truck."
要當送麵包的人了。」
a bread guy now."
'Merita Bread and Rolls'
to build this into our camper."
改造成我們的露營車。」
the entire electrical system.
重新接過整個電氣系統。
to a Coleman stove,
改裝成一個柯爾曼爐,
vacation launch pad, escape pod,
take us out of Lynchburg.
by some neighbors.
that didn't have fathers.
that did that to his son.
做這種事的人。
and escaped from Lynchburg,
麵包車,逃離林奇堡,
mountains' majesty.
in Myrtle Beach,
to be an explorer, at a very early age.
就見識到身為探險家的意義。
an age-inappropriate,
又沒有職業衛生安全局認證,
explosion in her living room.
創造出了最驚人的爆炸。
through a high school,
to play football in college.
because I'd already blown stuff up.
因為我已經能炸掉東西。
they go work for NASA, right?
"Leland, you'd be great astronaut."
你會是很出色的太空人。」
I was like, "Yeah, me, an astronaut?"
「最好是啦,我?太空人?」
尼爾和伯茲的事?
thing from back in '69?
我看著它,沒有去填寫。
and I looked at it,
filled out the application
填了那份申請書,
like that be astronauts,"
讓那種笨蛋當太空人,」
the application, and I got in.
我填了申請表,我入選了。
what it meant to be an astronaut:
for this countdown:
倒數升空所必要的事:
"Atlantis," careening off the planet,
搖晃著飛離地球,
and we're now floating in space.
and float over to the window,
to describe the colors that I see.
我才能夠描述我看見的顏色。
medium navy blue, turquoise
中深藍色、藍綠色,
to what I see with my eyes.
哥倫布實驗室。
Columbus laboratory.
for human research.
of the space shuttle,
and I attached it to the space station.
將它連結至太空站。
10 years for this thing to get installed,
這個東西安裝好,
"Leland! Leland! Leland!"
「利蘭!利蘭!利蘭!」
this was our primary mission objective,
這是我們的主要任務方針,
the first female commander,
第一位女性指揮官,
to the Russian segment.
about the size of a football field,
and all of these modules.
the rehydrated vegetables,
of vegetables, all rehydrated,
都是脫水的,漂過去,
back to my mother's kitchen.
and barley heating up,
from all around the world.
Asian American, French, German, Russian,
法國人、德國人、俄國人,
一次日出和日落。
"Hey, Leland, try some of this,"
and we'd go back and forth.
我們會這樣來來回回。
listening to Sade's "Smooth Operator."
blowing my mind, you know.
and I look down at the planet,
我向下看這個星球,
Virginia, my home town,
林奇堡,我的家鄉,
we're flying over Paris,
is looking down at his parents,
向下看著他的父母,
borscht or something else.
羅宋湯或其他東西。
where we see our respective families
看到我們各自的家人,
that little skinny boy,
種族主義小鎮林奇堡,
of being an astronaut,
with our own two hands.
do we open up our blinders
and Russians fighting Americans.
living and working together.
French folks, you know.
in harmony as one race.
共同生存,同屬一個種族。
the design of the modules,
a community, our home.
and looking there,
that I'm living and working with,
工作在一起的人,
can do now, especially in these times,
現在都能做的,
the right perspective.
could I just chat with you for a minute,
我能不能和你聊一下,
some things here.
we watch a lot of space movies
to ask you, though,
this movie the other day,
one of your colleagues,
你的一位同事,
NASA wrote an obituary for him.
美國太空總署為他寫了訃文。
that you're putting yourself in
writing my obituary,
shuttle flights that we've had,
135 趟太空梭飛行,
that killed everyone on that mission.
出任務的人全數喪生。
and the risks that go along with this,
that's much bigger than ourselves,
超越了我們自身,
when we get into that vehicle
和幾百萬噸的火箭燃料
of rocket fuel and go up to space.
我們都是這麼想的。
the Hollywood version --
I have to tell you.
told me that a few times.
也這樣說過幾次。
that was very powerful and difficult,
且不容易的事,
when you were five years old,
for you to be able to say those things,
is important for you to share that now,
在現在分享這件事,
to talk about things that have happened,
要男人談發生過的事,
that we have to be so tough and so hard
that are happening to us.
發生在我們身上的事。
contact me and tell me that,
我也要來克服我的酗酒問題。」
而產生的內在掙扎。
that are going on in them,
this is part of storytelling,
這是說故事的一部分,
whole as a community.
大家成為一個共同體。
you spoke about perspective shift,
你談到觀點轉變,
we've been very slow to accept
慢慢接受這種轉變,
so we thank you for that.
所以我們很謝謝你談這些。
the amazing astronaut that you are,
這麼出色的太空人,
to the TED stage, Leland.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Leland Melvin - Engineer, educatorLeland Melvin is an engineer, educator, former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver. He shares his stories of perseverance and excellence to inspire communities for lasting positive change.
Why you should listen
Leland Melvin served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on mission STS-122 (2008) and STS-129 (2009), helping to construct the International Space Station. He also served as co-chair of the White House's Federal Coordination in STEM Education Task Force and as NASA Associate Administrator for Education. He can currently be seen as a judge on ABC's robot competition series "BattleBots."
"Houston, we have a problem." Melvin was 25 feet under water in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a six million gallon pool, training to perform spacewalks as a NASA astronaut when he called the test director and asked him to turn the volume up in his headset. He never heard a reply and was immediately hoisted out of the pool to learn that he was deaf. Emergency surgery resulting in only partial recovery to his hearing and led him to being medically disqualified to fly in space by NASA flight surgeons.
This is just one of the many career-ending challenges Melvin has overcome in his life. Before becoming an astronaut, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions to play professional football in 1986, but a hamstring injury thwarted his NFL career with Detroit and then later with the Dallas Cowboys. Through determination and perseverance, he ultimately traveled off-planet twice on Space Shuttle Atlantis to help construct the International Space Station, logging more than 565 hours in space. He's the only person drafted into the National Football League to have flown in space. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored his athletic and academic accomplishments by placing his Detroit Lions jersey under glass in Canton, Ohio.
Melvin has a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in materials science engineering. He worked at NASA Langley Research Center in the area of nondestructive testing creating optical fiber sensors for measuring damage in aerospace vehicles resulting in publications in numerous scientific journals. After hanging up his space boots, he was appointed head of NASA Education and served as the co-chair on the White House's Federal Coordination in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Task Force developing the nation's five-year STEM education plan. He was the United States representative and chair of the International Space Education Board (ISEB), a global collaboration in space. He holds five honorary doctorates for his service in education, the sciences and philanthropy.
Melvin's memoir, Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances shares his personal journey from the gridiron to the stars and examines the intersecting roles of community, perseverance and grace that align to create the opportunities for success. A young reader's version of the book is available here.
Leland Melvin | Speaker | TED.com