HAMPTON, Va. -- NASA astronaut and University of Richmond graduate Leland Melvin will share stories of his experiences in space with several hundred students at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond on Friday, May 9.
Melvin, a Detroit Lions NFL draftee and former NASA Langley Research Center chemist, was a mission specialist on the crew of space shuttle mission STS-122.
Melvin will take a group of Carver Elementary School fifth graders on a tour of the museum's Newton in Space exhibits at 11:30 and will share with the students what life was like aboard the shuttle. Melvin will be available for interviews following the tour.
He will also speak to Elkhardt Middle School students at 10:30 a.m. and Community High and St. Michael's Episcopal students at 1 p.m. Friday in the IMAX Dome Theater at the museum. Melvin will discuss living conditions in space and jobs aboard the shuttle. His presentation will include Langley's role in NASA's future plans for exploration, which will take humans back to the moon and on to Mars. Melvin will also share his flight video and answer students' questions.
Melvin completed a 13-day journey of nearly 5.3 million miles in space this past February on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The STS-122 mission expanded the size and research capabilities of the International Space Station with the delivery of the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. Melvin was one of the operators of the station's robotic arm that helped install the module.
Melvin began working in the Fiber Optic Sensors group of the Nondestructive Evaluation Sciences Branch at NASA Langley in 1989. Selected by NASA's astronaut program in June 1998, Melvin reported for training in August 1998. This was his first spaceflight.
For complete biographical information about Melvin, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/melvin.html
For information about the Science Museum of Virginia, visit:
For information about NASA's education programs, visit:
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