VOA常速英语2014--美国宇航局实习生探索太空事

NASA Interns 2 Explore Space Careers

GREENBELT, MARYLAND—

The U.S. space agency has its eyes on the future - not just future missions, but the scientists who will plan and carry out those missions. At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center outside Washington, a summer internship 3 gives college, post-graduate and high school students a chance to work on projects in a variety of space-related fields. In return, these interns bring enthusiasm and a fresh perspective.

Louis Parent enjoyed working with space robots. The University of Illinois mechanical engineering major is wrapping up his 10-week internship at Goddard, which he calls “probably the best internship” he’s ever had. “They had me work on a real project that really mattered, have some important data that what people do here and really contribute to real science and real engineering.”

Interacting with his mentor 4 and the other interns gave him a better understanding of what he needs in order to pursue a career in this field - a solid background in computer science.

“Computer science isn’t my favorite course to study,” he admitted, “but I finally understood that it’s necessary, and seeing the applications here kind of makes you want to do it more.”

Gaining experience

That sort of transformative experience is a big part of the NASA internship, says Rick Obenschain, Goddard’s deputy director.

“You train somebody here, you give them experiences, you give them enthusiasm, and they’re going to take it with them, whether they stay within NASA or stay in the government or in the industry,” he said.

Obenschain stayed with NASA. He was an intern 1 in 1962, a few years after the space flight center opened in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“We were making small baby steps, which today a student or an intern would say, ‘Wow, this is something that you can do in 30, 40 minutes,'" he said with a chuckle 5. “Okay, it would take us weeks to figure something out.”

The intern program has evolved a great deal since then. It’s directed by Mablelene Burrell, who proudly says there are more than 400 interns in the program this summer. More than 40 percent are women. “Most of our interns are from the STEM fields. They are engineers, the full range of engineers, from mechanical to electrical. We have many civil engineers, math majors. We have physics majors.”

NASA’s intern programs are crucial to preparing the future workforce 6, says Robert Gabrys, director of the agency’s Office of Education.

“We define workforce as anybody who would come to work for us, of course,” he explained, “but also who is going to work for one of the contractors 7 who support our space program, or would go and work for a higher institution in a NASA-related field, or become a STEM teacher in a school system.”

Matching projects and interns

The scientists, engineers and technologists at Goddard write descriptions of the projects they want interns to work on, and students apply for the ones that interest them. That helps the researchers identify which students would be the best match for their projects.  

Joseph Santanello, who also started his NASA career as an intern, says the students are an invaluable 8 addition to the work environment.

“We get a fresh perspective on how we’re working here, what we’re working on, not just the science part, but generally, how we interact with the community,” he said.

Intern Patricia Lawston has been working with him for the past three summers. She says the internship has been an excellent experience as she pursues a doctorate 9 in climatology.

“Not only the computer resources that I have, but also the connections that I’ve made here,” she said. “It’s really nice coming back for my second and third summers, to walk in the building and see people who recognize and call me by name and to know that any point I can email them and email Joe [Santanello] with any questions I have about my research that’s been very beneficial to me even when I get back to school.”

That ongoing 10 mentoring 11 and collaboration 12 helps the scientists, the students, and the U.S. space program.

马里兰州格林贝尔特— 美国宇航局(NASA)的戈达德太空飞行中心开发建造研究太阳系和宇宙的仪器和技术，也通过一些教育项目来培养未来的科学家。为期10周的暑期实习给大学和高中的学生们提供参与太空领域相关项目的机会，包括计算机科学、机器人、机械和航天工程。同时,这些实习生也给美国宇航局带来了热情活力和清新视觉,他们中的很多人希望成为下一代科学家,被美国宇航局品聘用。

需要专攻机器人的科学家来设计和创造太空机器人。路易斯.帕伦特（Louis Parent）就是一名羽翼待丰的科学家。这位伊利诺伊大学机械工程专业的学生即将结束在戈达德中心为期10周的实习。

他说：“这可能是我做过的最棒的实习，因为他们让我参与一个有真正意义的、实实在在的项目。”

通过和导师还有其他实习生沟通，他对投入这一专业还需要做出什么有了更好的理解。

“我需要在计算机科学方面有大量的知识背景，而这是我之前所不想学的，”他说，“因为计算机科学并不是我喜欢的课程，现在我终于明白了它是必需的。而且当你看到它的实际应用，你会想要学更多。”

戈达德太空飞行中心的副主任里克.奥本沙因（Rick Obenschain）说，这种能够给人带来改变的经历是美国宇航局实习项目的一个重要部分。他是1962年的实习生，当时，中心才刚刚起步。

他说：“那时候我们还是婴儿学步。今天的学生或实习生会说，‘这是三、四十分钟就能搞定的事情’。是的，可当年我们得花上几个星期来弄明白。”

戈达德的科学家，例如约瑟夫.桑坦尼洛（Joseph Santanello）是这样描述他们与实习生共事的项目的。

他说：“我们把灌溉放入我们的预测模型，这样就能预测美国的灌溉方式。”

桑坦尼洛也是从实习生做起，开始了他在美国宇航局的职业生涯。他说，学生是对这里工作环境的宝贵补充。

桑坦尼洛说，“关于如何工作、做什么工作，我们有了一个新鲜的视角。不只是科学的部分，还包括如何与社区互动。”

过去三个夏天，实习生帕特里夏.劳斯顿（Patricia Lawston）都在和桑坦尼洛一起工作。她说，实习经历对于她攻读的气象学博士学位来说非常有益。

她说：“在这里我不仅拥有电脑资源，我还在这里建立了人际关系。当我在第二和第三个夏天回到这里时，走进大楼，人们就认出了我，叫出了我的名字。如果我有关于我研究课题的任何问题，我可以随时给他们、给约瑟夫（桑坦尼洛）发邮件。”

这种持续不断的指导与合作，给科学家、学生、乃至美国的太空项目带来了帮助。