About Leland D. Melvin
Leland Devon Melvin is an American engineer and a retired NASA astronaut. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-122, and as mission specialist 1 on STS-129. Melvin was named the NASA Associate Administrator for Education in October 2010. Prior to joining NASA, he was a professional football player. Melvin is first on the University of Richmond's career lists with 198 receptions for 2,669 yards, and fourth on Richmond's career touchdown receptions list with 16. The STS-129 mission lasted 10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds, traveling 4.5 million miles in 171 orbits. Since retiring from NASA, Leland has given several STEM lectures of his experience in space to a wide range of audiences, as well as his football career in the NFL.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.