國際時事跟讀VIP Ep. L198: NASA首位台裔太空人：我來自那顆霧中綠寶石 NASA's First Taiwanese-American Astronaut Comes Home

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國際時事跟讀VIP Ep. L198: NASA's First Taiwanese-American Astronaut Comes Home

Highlights 主題摘要

• NASA's first Taiwanese-American astronaut Kjell Lindgren returned to Taichung in April 2026, the city where he spent his earliest years.
• A misdiagnosis that ended his flight training in 1998 ultimately redirected Lindgren toward medicine — and eventually to NASA.
• His visit, tied to the U.S. "Freedom 250" anniversary programme, underscored growing Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in space science.

When Kjell Lindgren arrived in Taiwan last week, he was returning to a place he had left before forming any memories of it. Born in Taipei in 1973, he spent his earliest years in Taichung, where his father — a Swedish-American military officer — was stationed at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base. His mother is Taiwanese. The family relocated abroad when he was barely three. Decades on, Lindgren has become NASA's first Taiwanese-American astronaut, with 311 days in space across two long-duration International Space Station missions.

NASA太空人林琪兒上週抵台，回到一個他離開時還來不及留下任何記憶的地方。他1973年生於台北，幼年在台中度過，父親是派駐清泉崗基地的瑞典裔美軍，母親是台灣人，三歲前便隨家人移居海外。時隔數十年，他已成為NASA首位台裔太空人，兩度執行國際太空站長期任務，累計在太空生活311天。

The road to NASA was far from straightforward. Following his 1995 graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Lindgren began flight training, only to be grounded in 1998 after a misdiagnosis of asthma. He pivoted to medicine — until a routine hyperbaric chamber session during his emergency residency prompted a re-evaluation that cleared him entirely. He earned a medical doctorate, joined Johnson Space Center as a flight surgeon, and was selected in 2009 as part of NASA's 20th astronaut class. "My whole life journey pivoted because of that forced setback," he later reflected. "If I'd become a pilot back then, I wouldn't be doing this today."

林琪兒進入NASA的過程並非一帆風順。他1995年自美國空軍學院畢業後展開飛行員訓練，卻在1998年因被誤診為氣喘而被迫中斷，轉往醫學領域發展。急診住院醫師訓練期間，一次例行高壓氧艙課程讓他重新接受體檢，結果發現當年根本是誤診。他隨後取得醫學博士學位，以航醫身分進入詹森太空中心服務，並於2009年獲選為NASA第20屆太空人。他後來回顧這段經歷時說：「那次被迫中斷，讓我的人生走上了截然不同的路。當年如果順利當上飛行員，我不可能站在現在這個位置。」

In 2015, while aboard the ISS, Lindgren captured a photograph of Taiwan shrouded in cloud — an image he described as "a breathtaking green jewel" — and shared it widely online. On April 23, he presented Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen with a framed print of that very shot. Mayor Lu welcomed him at the Meiccun Complex, a former U.S. military club being converted into a family and childcare centre. "You are family," she told him. "Welcome home." Lindgren said the return felt like "completing a circle in my life."

2015年在太空站執行任務期間，林琪兒從軌道俯拍台灣，捕捉到島嶼籠罩在雲霧中的景象，他形容那畫面是「令人屏息的霧中綠寶石」，並將照片上傳網路廣為流傳。4月23日，他將這張親手拍攝的裱框照片贈予台中市長盧秀燕。盧市長在美村綜合服務園區親自接待，該園區前身為美軍俱樂部，現正改建為親子育兒服務基地。她告訴林琪兒：「你是我們的家人，歡迎回家。」林琪兒說，這次重返台中，「好像完成了人生某一個循環」。

Now serving as deputy director of flight operations at Johnson Space Center, Lindgren also provided crew support during the Artemis II mission. His five-day Taiwan visit — part of the U.S. State Department's "Freedom 250" programme marking American independence's 250th anniversary — took in the Taiwan Space Agency, National Cheng Kung University's space research centre, and a public lecture in Taipei. He urged young Taiwanese to pursue science and engineering, calling this a golden age of space exploration.

林琪兒目前擔任詹森太空中心飛行作業局副局長，阿提米斯2號任務期間也負責機組人員的相關支援工作。此次五天的訪台行程，是美國國務院「自由250」公民講者計畫的一環，藉由慶祝美國建國250週年推動雙邊交流，行程涵蓋國家太空中心、成大太空科技中心，以及在台北的公開演講。他鼓勵台灣年輕人勇於追求科學與工程領域，並說人類正迎來太空探索史上難得一見的黃金時代。

Keyword Drills 關鍵字

1. Misdiagnosis [noun, an incorrect medical diagnosis]: The misdiagnosis ended his flight training for years.
2. Hyperbaric chamber [noun phrase, a pressurised medical device delivering high-concentration oxygen]: Doctors use a hyperbaric chamber to treat certain injuries.
3. Flight surgeon [noun phrase, a physician providing medical support to pilots and astronauts]: A flight surgeon monitors crew health before every mission.
4. Childcare centre [noun phrase, a facility providing professional care and supervision for young children]: The city opened a new childcare centre near the station.
5. Golden age [noun phrase, a period of outstanding achievement or progress in a field]: We are living through a golden age of space exploration.

Reference article:
1. https://www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121220/9462131
2. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202604200259.aspx
3. https://news.pts.org.tw/article/803942