Former NFL player gears up for spaceflight

By Tariq Malik

updated 12:22 p.m. ET Dec. 5, 2007

A former NFL wide receiver and two NASA spacewalkers are ready to tackle a tough construction job at the international space station once their shuttle Atlantis launches into orbit on Thursday.

NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, a professional athlete-turned-astronaut, will make his spaceflight debut alongside spacewalkers Rex Walheim, Stanley Love and four crewmates when Atlantis rockets spaceward to deliver a European lab to the ISS.

"I've played on some very dynamic teams in the past and this is one of the most dynamic," said Melvin, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1986 before injuries prematurely ended his NFL career. "Everyone has each other's back and we work together."

Melvin and Love will make their first trips into space when Atlantis lifts off at 4:31 p.m. EST (2131 GMT) tomorrow on an 11-day mission to install the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory at the ISS. Walheim, meanwhile, is returning to orbit on what will be his second spaceflight.

"It is really exciting to get a chance to go into space again," Walheim said Monday after arriving here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport.

Tackling spaceflight
Melvin, 43, credits a mix of sports and education for placing him on the path toward space. His ability to catch a football while growing up in Lynchburg, Va., led to a scholarship to the University of Richmond, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry.

"So I was playing ball and I was doing chemical research," Melvin said in a NASA interview. "It was a very exciting time."

NASA Spacewalkers Rex Walheim, right, and Stanley Love use virtual reality to rehearse their construction job at the international space station.

But Melvin didn't initially plan to become an astronaut. After graduation, he was drafted in the 11th round by the Lions, but pulled a hamstring in the preseason and was later released. He studied materials science engineering at the University of Virginia while training with the Dallas Cowboys, but another hamstring injury led him back into life as a research scientist.

"So that was pretty much the end of my NFL career," said Melvin, who has also stressed the importance of education to students as co-manager of NASA's educator astronaut program. "But I already had this backup plan already in work."

Melvin joined NASA's Langley Research Center in 1989 to help develop nondestructive ways of examining spacecraft and later led the Vehicle Health Monitoring team for the agency's X-33 reusable launch vehicle program. After a friend suggested he apply to NASA's astronaut corps, Melvin obliged and was selected in 1998.

"I think playing pro football, or playing any sport where you have to work together as a team, helps you become a better astronaut," he said, adding that the same non-verbal communication skills on the field can be used on a shuttle flight deck.

During STS-122, Melvin will serve as Mission Specialist-1 and the prime operator for the space station's robotic arm, which he will wield to install Europe's Columbus lab to the ISS.

"That's going to be another exciting time," he said. "We will have grown the station by another module and have brought our international partners from Europe on board to be part of this huge, expansive station."

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