Leland Melvin is the only person to have caught a football in the NFL and traveled into space with NASA. Now young readers can learn all about Melvin’s amazing journey all the way from the gridiron to the International Space Station.
Meet Leland Melvin—football player, astronaut, and professional dream chaser.
Leland Melvin knows how to tackle a problem. When the former Detroit Lions football player’s career was cut short by a hamstring injury, Leland didn’t waste time mourning his dashed dreams. Instead, he found a new one—a dream that was completely out of this world.
Leland joined NASA to pursue his love of science and later became an astronaut. But even his journey to the star was rocky—a training accident left him temporarily deaf, which should have disqualified him forever from flying into space. But Leland wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t stop chasing his dreams. He worked hard, persevered, and when his chance came again, he grabbed it. Leland traveled to space twice on the space shuttle Atlantis to help build the International Space Station.
In Chasing Space, Leland tells his remarkable life story—from growing up in Lynchberg, Virginia, to being drafted by the Detroit Lions to bravely orbiting our planet. His story is sure to inspire young explorers to follow their dreams. He will also introduce readers to the fascinating creative and scientific challenges he had to deal with in space with do-it-yourself experiments at the back of the book. Chasing Space Young Readers’ Edition is the perfect book for young scientists, explorers, and readers looking to be inspired. Ages 8-12