[Posted Nov. 6, 2007]

Virginian Is Member
Of Shuttle Crew To
Launch On Dec/  6
 

      Forty-three-year-old Leland Melvin, a native of Lynchburg Virginia, will make his first trip into orbit on the space Shuttle Atlantis launched  December 6 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Leland Melvin

       Melvin is a former professional football player with the Detroit Lions. He earned a Chemistry Degree from the University of Richmond  where he played varsity football. He was drafted by the Lions  in 1986, but was cut when he got injured. He suffered an injury during training  a year later at the training camp of the Dallas Cowboys, which ended his aspirations as an NFL player.  He earned a Master’s Degree in Materials-Sciences engineering and did research  on Fiber Optics at Langley Research Center in Hampton Roads.  Melvin will be a specialist on the International Space Station’s robotic.
       Melvin, 43, graduated from Heritage High School in Lynchburg in 1982. He is a member of the National Technical Association (Hampton Roads chapter 1993), Americans Chemical  Society.
       Melvin will be among the seven man crew on Atlantis who will deliver the  European scientific laboratory to the space station from the  Kennedy Space Center in Fla.
        He was selected for the NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Training in 1998.   

To read other stories, subscribe to the New Journal and Guide.