A former wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, Leland Melvin is an engineer and NASA astronaut. He served on the space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist and was named the NASA Associate Administrator for Education in October 2010. He also served as the cochair on the White House's Federal Coordination in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Task Force, developing the nation's five-year STEM education plan. He is the host of the Lifetime show Child Genius and a judge for ABC's BattleBots. He holds four honorary doctorates and has received the NFL Player Association Award of Excellence. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia.

From the NFL to NASA, Leland Melvin "shows us how he made the best of every opportunity and every setback on his way from his hometown to outer space" (Bill Nye, The Science Guy).
Meet Leland Melvin-football star, NASA astronaut, and professional dream chaser.
In this inspiring memoir, adapted from the adult version, young readers will get to learn about Leland Melvin's remarkable life story, from being drafted by the Detroit Lions to bravely orbiting our planet in the International Space Station to writing songs with will.i.am, working with Serena Williams, and starring in television shows likeThe Dog Whisperer andChild Genius.
When his football career was cut short by an injury, Leland didn't waste time mourning his broken dream. Instead, he found a new one-something that was completely out of this world. And when an accident during astronaut training left him hearing-impaired, he held on to his faith and didn't give up!
With do-it-yourself experiments in the back of the book and sixteen pages of striking full-color photographs, this is the perfect book to inspire young readers.
Winner, 2019 Grand Canyon Reader Award for Tween Non-Fiction
"Chronicles his unique and inspirational journey... The scale of Melvin's achievement is impressive: he completed graduate-level engineering coursework at night while attending Dallas Cowboys training camp, and he never gave up his pursuit of going into space, even after his hearing was damaged." -School Library Journal
"InChasing Space, Leland Melvin tackles stupendous obstacles with dogged determination, showing you what is indeed possible in life-if you believe." -Neil deGrasse Tyson, author ofAstrophysics for People in a Hurry.
"Chasing Spaceis a must read-a flight you shouldn't miss."-Katherine Johnson, former NASA physicist and mathematician, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom