My NASA family in Hampton really helped me to understand what it meant to be a scientist and an engineer and part of a team that wanted to change the world in a positive way through STEAM. It was also a family of people who believed in uplifting the marginalized and disenfranchised to help them aspire to do great things.
Thanks to Rudy King, John Simmons, Kendall Freeman, “Big Bill,” Sam James, Ted Johnson, Joe Heyman, Thomas Kashangaki, David Shannon, Todd Pilot, Charlie Camarda, Rosa Webster, Woodrow Whitlow, Bob Lee, Katherine Johnson, Glinda Shipman, Joe Heyman, Bill Winfree, Bob Rogowski, Elliot Kramer, Meng Cho-Wu, Brooks Childers, Jason, Mark Froggatt, and many others.
My NASA Johnson family took teamwork to another level, especially when we came together to honor our fallen. All my Penguin classmates, my STS-122 and STS-129 crewmates, I thank you for helping make me a better astro and person. Godspeed to our buddies who have left the planet: STS-107 (Rick, Willie, David, Kalpana, Michael, Laurel, and Ilan), Dex, and Piers. Garrett Reisman, thanks so much for being a great CACO who kept me laughing even though I could not hear anything you were saying. Shep and G., thanks for an amazing experience in Star City with Kenny, Bob C., Peggy, Julie, Sandy, and the rest of the Russian Crusader bunch. Dennis, Alla, Sergei, Yuri, thank you for inviting me into your homes and sharing your culture, language, and great food with me. The rest of the CB family as well as the training team: You got us ready and supported us in every way to make sure that we were all safe. Erlinda, Beth, and Heather, you controlled my life for ten years and then were there for my family too. Flight Med John Locke and Jon Clark, you fought for me to get back on flight status, and I appreciate your efforts. Dr. Rich Williams, I thank you for helping the team get comfortable with me flying in space. Joe Dervay, Smith, Brenda, Amy, C.J., Carole: Some of you saw me as an astronaut hopeful and were there to help me get through the labyrinth of forms, documents, and testing to get back on flight status and then get to space; I thank you.
I worked at NASA HQ, which involved two stints that connected me with extremely passionate educators who made a difference in the lives of our most precious resource, our children. Thanks, Charles Scales, for helping me see past my résumé and what could be possible as a different kind of AA for education. The Summer of Innovation crew—Dovie, Carol, Rick, Shelly, Jim, and others—we really helped our kids enjoy STEM over the summer in a hands-on, experiential way. I appreciate all the conferences, symposiums, and gatherings that exposed so many to what we do to share our incredible scientific missions to learners, educators, and the community. As AA, I was really fortunate to work with this incredible team across the agency. Thanks, Education Coordinating Council. Thanks, CoSTEM—especially Joan F. and others for trying to take a coordinated approach to STEM ed. I learned a lot from many of you. Thanks, Carolyn, Roosevelt, Mea, Donald, Carl, Mabel, Mary, Diane, Joeletta, Lenell, and Andrew for keeping me sane.
Friends, family, colleagues, and complete strangers have helped me through this meandering journey thus far: Paris L., Coach Baber, Coach Russell, Jeanette E., Elizabeth, Pharrell, Christian M., Quincy, Beth N.C., Contessa, Curtis, Robert F., Chopper, Jeanette, Doc Alford, Nancy, Jim and Jere S., Yvonne, the Odyssey team, Barrington, Laura R., Dana, Nicole, Annette, Tsipi, Zigi, Gela, M. Kagan, Bill Nye, Neil DT, Venus, Karen S., Ashley B., Patty O’, Sonya D., Olivia, will.i.am, Claudia, Summer, Paul, Ruth, Yolanda, Sherri, Doc Gross, Shaun, Sue, Tom, Willie W., Ed Dwight, Pat S., Tawana, Leah, and Reggie M. Thanks, Melissa, for taking care of the boys so many times, being a good friend, and helping with the edits. The Star Harbor crew—Maraia, Scott, Ron, Mindy, Jenn, Shubham, Luis, Holly, Robert, Alan, and Bill—thanks for having a vision to make things better on this planet by creating an overview for all to see the possibilities. Thank you, Team Constellation: Guy, Ron Anousheh, Nicole, Cora, Jeremy, Jacob, and Christoph.
Finally, Charlie Bolden, I thank you for being a great boss and also like a second father to me. You inspired me and so many others to believe and achieve great things.
I really always tried to do the things I enjoyed but did not always connect a purpose to it. All of you have helped me use my “why” to tell this story, and I appreciate your support and love throughout the years.
PHOTOS SECTION
Our family portrait when I was two years old, May 1966. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
Number 47 on the Perrymont Elementary Panthers football team. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
In my freshman year at Heritage High School. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
Making the winning catch during the Rustburg versus Heritage High School homecoming game. (Courtesy of Heritage High School)
Teaching City Recreation Tennis with my friends Addison Fauber and Kimbrough Richards, at Heritage High School, summer 1984. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
On the cover of the University of Richmond Magazine, Fall 1985. (Courtesy of University of Richmond)
Catching a pass in Detroit Lions training camp, July 1986. (Courtesy of Detroit Lions)
Group 17 Astronaut Class, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, August 1998. (Courtesy of NASA)
The “Big Blue Crew” at a celebration honoring me as the first astronaut from Lynchburg, summer 1998. From left: Bryant “Boogie Bear” Anderson; Phil “Silky Blue” Scott; me, “Lil D”; Ernest “Fufu” Penn; and Kip “Gus” Hawkings. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
With my hearing specialists, Nancy and Dr. Bobbie Alford, during an examination, April 2001. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
With Jake and Scout after a run in Ronald McNair Memorial Park, El Lago, Texas. (Courtesy of Lynchburg News Advance)
Jake and Scout on the road again, going on another journey. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
Driving an armored personnel carrier, with Alan “Dex” Poindexter (far left) looking on, fall 2007. (Courtesy of NASA)
Me in my Detroit Lions jersey on the flight deck of the space shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-122, February 2008. (Courtesy of NASA)
The view from space of Rigel Island, in the beautiful Caribbean. (Courtesy of NASA)
My big sis, Cathy, was waiting with a loving embrace when I returned from Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, February 2008. (Courtesy of NASA HQ)
The mission STS-122 welcome-home ceremony at Ellington Field. From left: Astronauts Dan Tani, Stan Love, Hans Schlegel, Rex J. Walheim, me, Alan Poindexter, Steve Frick, and Center Director Michael Coates. (Courtesy of NASA)
Pharrell Williams and I present the music legend Quincy Jones with my space montage at a ceremony in Washington, DC, 2008. (Courtesy of NASA)
The crew of STS-129 as we walk out from crew quarters to board the Astrovan to head to the launchpad, November 2009. Front: Charles “Scorch” Hobaugh and Butch Wilmore; middle: me and Randy “Komrade” Bresnick; rear: Mike Foreman, Bobby Satcher, and Peggy Whitson. (Courtesy of NASA)
Atlantis liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, November 16, 2009. (Courtesy of NASA)
On the International Space Station before heading to Atlantis to prepare for our trip home, November 2009. Front row: me, Nicole Stott, Bobby Satcher. Back row: Mike Foreman, Charles Hobaugh, Butch Wilmore, and Randy Bresnick. (Courtesy of NASA)
Me and Bobby Satcher, making history: the first time two African American men flew together in space, November 2009. (Courtesy of NASA)
Surrounded by 2,700 calories—one day’s worth of food in space, November 2009. (Credit: NASA)
An image taken from the space shuttle Atlantis as we fly around the International Space Station, November 2009. (Courtesy of NASA)
Sitting among a sea of inspired kids, Cape Town, South Africa, October 2011. (Courtesy of NASA)
Showing much respect for my friend Astronaut Mike Anderson at the Seattle Aviation Museum, Washington. (Courtesy of Lonnie McCool)
The NASA education team with a true legend, Katherine Johnson, at NASA Langley, Hampton, Virginia, 2013. (Courtesy of NASA)
At the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with NASA astronaut candidates and, in the backg
round, International Space Station Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, calling in from space. (Courtesy of NASA)
With President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during the White House Easter Egg Roll, April 2014. (Courtesy of White House)
As host of the Lifetime TV show Child Genius: Battle of the Brightest, 2016. (Courtesy of Lifetime Television)
Speaking at a Black History Month event at NASA headquarters, February 2016. (Courtesy of NASA)
Katherine Johnson receives her Silver Snoopy Award from me at NASA Langley, September 2016. (Courtesy of NASA)
On the red carpet of the Hidden Figures movie premiere in New York, November 2016. (Courtesy of NASA)
Astronauts Ron Garan and Anousheh Ansari, Bill Nye, and me at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City, 2016. (Courtesy of Melvin Family)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A former wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, LELAND MELVIN is an engineer and NASA astronaut. He served on the space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist and was named the NASA Associate Administrator for Education in October 2010. He also served as the cochair 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 is the host of the Lifetime show Child Genius and a judge for ABC’s BattleBots. He holds four honorary doctorates and has received the NFL Player Association Award of Excellence. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
COPYRIGHT
CHASING SPACE. Copyright © 2017 by Leland Melvin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover photographs: © NASA / REX / Shutterstock (Leland Melvin); © sripfoto / Shutterstock (stars)
Frontispiece: © Vadim Sadovksi/Shutterstock, Inc.
Print ISBN 978-0-06-249672-0
EPub Edition May 2017 ISBN 9780062496775
Version 05262017
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Chasing Space Page 21
