Leland Melvin was propelled by many a rocket during his time as a NASA astronaut, but just two weeks ago the 50-year-old was launched to viral stardom by a single tweet.
While researching the Challenger explosion, reporter Adam Aton came across Melvin’s official NASA portrait from 2009. Within hours, Melvin’s self-described “big cheeseburger smile” — and his two rescue dogs that he snuck into the photo — were a big hit on the web.
This is an official portrait for astronaut Leland Melvin. Also, his handle is @Astro_Flow. I’m in awe. pic.twitter.com/KHWVo94mZO
— Adam Aton (@AdamAton) January 28, 2015
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“[Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry was trying to show a future of people living and working together, trying to show a future for the universe,” Melvin said. “I remember when Nichelle Nichols, who was playing Lt. Uhura, said she was going to quit ‘Star Trek.’ She was in a hotel in Georgia and met Dr. Martin Luther King and he told her she cannot quit. She was portraying a leader, an African-American woman on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. He saw her as one of the she-roes of the time.”
On The Power Of Reinvention
“My dad was a science teacher. He played in a band for extra money,” Melvin said. “When I was six or seven he brought a bread truck home and said ‘This is our camper.’ I said ‘No, that’s a bread truck.’
“Over the summer, he worked to convert it into an RV for camping, because as teachers, it’s the cheapest way to take a vacation,” Melvin said. “I learned to be an engineer over that summer.
“That Marita Bread truck became our camper because my dad had the vision to take a $500 bread truck and take us around the country. You can have a vision for something even if other people can’t see it. You just have to actualize it.”
