探索与系统健康技术领域副主管罗德·马丁博士
“[In] everyone’s life, they have a pivotal moment when they ask the question, ‘What am I really doing? What am I here for?’ … I’m reminded of a credo that I came up [with] through the evolution of my engagement of a whole bunch of recreational pursuits [including being a marathoner, ultrarunner, and Ironman triathlete] … as well as my professional pursuits. It’s threefold, and here’s what it is:
“[First,] I’m here because I want to be able to challenge myself, to see how much I can squeeze out of me – whatever that is, whatever ‘me’ is. [For example,] I applied to the astronaut candidate program twice, but I failed to make it to the second round. I figured I’d give a go at throwing my hat in the ring! Like with [an earlier career experience of failing out of] the Navy Nuclear Power Training Program, failure in one domain just means that you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and find a new direction – often pursuing stretch goals that are outside of your comfort zone.
“[Second,] I want to serve others. I want to find a way to be of use to others, whether it’s in a structured manner or unstructured manner, whether it’s volunteering or just being a civil servant. I really focus on this service aspect; I did become a supervisor about three years ago, and I really take that role seriously. I really have a service-based leadership philosophy. … That’s why I think [mentoring student interns] represented such a [career] highlight for me, because I felt like I was serving their needs. I was helping to really educate them and [provide] knowledge that I want to … transfer to them, to really inspire that next generation of folks.
“… And the third – which I think NASA fits beautifully – is, ‘How do I build the future? How do I help build the future?’
“So again, it’s challenge, service, and building the future. If I don’t do anything else in my entire life except for those three things, I’m at least getting something right. I might be getting everything else entirely wrong, but I can at least work toward those three things.”
— Dr. Rodney Martin, Deputy Discovery and Systems Health Technical Area Lead, NASA’s Ames Research Center
Image Credit: NASA / Brandon Torres
Interviewer: NASA / Michelle Zajac
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“[在]每个人的生活中，他们都有一个关键的时刻，他们会问这样一个问题：‘我到底在做什么？我来这里干什么？’…我想起了一个信条，这是我在参与一系列娱乐活动（包括马拉松运动员、超级长跑运动员和铁人三项运动员）以及职业活动的过程中想出来的。它有三重含义，具体如下:
“[首先，]我来这里是因为我想挑战自我，看看我能从自己身上挤出多少东西——无论那是什么，无论“我”是什么。[例如，]我申请了两次宇航员候选人计划，但都没能进入第二轮。我想我应该试试看。就像[之前失败的职业经历]海军核动力训练项目一样，在一个领域的失败意味着你必须重新振作起来，掸掉身上的灰尘，寻找新的方向——通常是追求超出你舒适区的拓展目标。
“[第二，]我想为别人服务。我想找到一种对他人有用的方式，无论是以一种有组织的方式还是以一种无组织的方式，无论是做志愿者还是只是做一名公务员。我非常注重服务方面；大约三年前我确实成为了一名主管，我非常认真地对待这个角色。我的领导理念是以服务为基础。……这就是为什么我认为[指导实习学生]对我来说是如此重要的一个[职业]亮点，因为我觉得我是在为他们的需求服务。我正在帮助真正教育他们，并[提供]我想……传授给他们的知识，以真正激励下一代。
“第三个问题——我认为NASA非常适合这个问题——是‘我如何建设未来？我如何帮助建设未来？’
“所以，这是挑战、服务和建设未来。如果我一生中除了这三件事什么都没做，至少我做对了一件事。我可能在其他方面都完全错了，但我至少可以朝着这三点努力。
——罗德·马丁博士，NASA艾姆斯研究中心发现和系统健康技术领域副主管
图片来源: NASA / Brandon Torres
记者: NASA / Michelle Zajac