Accelerated change is a series of @amandngocnguyen that profiles the main creators of change in the world
NASA astronaut Leland Melvin Official portrait with his dogs
“Houston, we have a problem.”
Astronaut Leland Melvin was training to take a spacewalk at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a five million-gallon pool that simulates the microgravity of space, when he realized something had gone wrong. Very bad.
In his spacesuit, 32 feet underwater, he couldn’t hear his instructor. When the team pulled him out of the water, Leland realized he was deaf. His suit was missing a Valsalva, a device that helps astronauts equalize air pressure. After an emergency survey, Leland’s hearing partially returned, but his space flight dream was medically disqualified.
Leland resorted to educating children about space. On February 1, 2003, Leland was on his way to work with teachers and students when Shuttle Columbia broke up upon returning to Earth. To honor the legacy of her friends, she flew around the country to speak at various memorial services about her sacrifice for humanity. Unbeknownst to him, Rich Williams, the chief flight surgeon, watched Leland at every takeoff and landing. Rich signed an exemption for Leland to fly in space.
Since then, Leland has flown twice on the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on missions STS-122 (2008) and STS-129 (2009). After his last space mission, he headed the NASA education department as an Associate Administrator until he retired in 2014. His official NASA Astronaut portrait went viral for including his dogs.
Before joining NASA, Melvin was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1986 NFL college football draft and then played for the Dallas Cowboys. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of BWX Technologies and Fellow Director at the Massachusetts Media Lab Institute of Technology. For 8 years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Richmond and received five honorary doctorates for education, science and philanthropy. . He is the only person to catch a soccer ball both in the National Soccer League and in space.
Amanda: What social change do you want to see in the world?
Leland He was 5 months old when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 while growing up in a southern Virginia city called Lynchburg. I watched the SpaceX crew’s Dragon launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center days after seeing a Peace Officer turn off George Floyd’s life. Those two discordant events drew a powerful juxtaposition between technological advance and the brutality of pre-civil rights. We are observing social change daily as all races, cultures, genders, and people around the world protest the barbaric murders of black people. Time will tell if the social changes brought about by these newly captured acts bring systemic infrastructure changes that empower people of color equally in all sectors. I believe that we should empower, educate, and teach our children to be ambassadors for inclusive change because more than 400 years the needle of equity has not moved much when people still routinely die due to the color of their skin. We must allow children in all zip codes to have access and the opportunity to learn, grow and grow.
Amanda: What is the overview effect and why is it important to you?
Leland The overall effect is the cognitive change astronauts feel when viewing the enormity and interconnectedness of our blue marble from space. Author Frank White coined the term in his book with the same name. On my first space shuttle mission, I thought my technical task of setting up the multi-billion dollar Columbus Laboratory would be my “uh-huh” moment, but that task paled compared to breaking bread with the people we used to fight against. Knowing that if we did not work together in space we would perish. I saw our planet while dining at the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station (translation star) with Asian-American, Russian, French, German, and the first female commander orbiting our planet at 17,500 mph every 90 minutes. There were no wars or conflicts from that point of view, just a planet in peace. That vision changes your mindset and makes you want to do better, be better. Help inspire the next generation of explorers to be good stewards of our home, Earth, and advance our civilization.
Amanda What advice would you give to someone who is going through a difficult time?
Leland Believe in yourself and discover what focuses you on difficult times. Find mentors and allies to support you no matter the situation that arises. It can be just one person. That is sometimes all you need.
Amanda: You were the head of education at NASA. Why do you think it is important to educate young women on STEAM?
Leland I witnessed the direct impact that educators, like my parents, can have on a community and an individual’s destiny. NASA’s people, programs, and resources are unparalleled. Our unique assets are ready to engage students, captivate their imaginations, and encourage their pursuit of STEAM-related studies that are so vital to their future. I want to help grow the next generation of Mae Jemisons (first African American female astronaut) or Peggy Whitsons (first female ISS commander). If our girls can see it, they can be and we should show and highlight these amazing women on comomakers.com forums. I can’t wait until I get to a world where we don’t have to celebrate these early accomplishments because it’s the norm. Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics encompass everything we do on and off this planet. The technical and the creative combine to give us symphonies and space stations. We must teach our girls to be multidisciplinary because the best solutions come from the most diverse teams and disciplines.
Amanda: Who are your role models?
Leland My father has always been the main person in my life who had a vision for his family and acted accordingly. He was from a small southern town and worked in a dangerous wood pulp mill as a child to earn money for his family before going to school. As an educator, I didn’t earn much money, so he did odd jobs to allow me to take piano, clarinet, and violin lessons because he knew the importance of cultural arts, music, and science. Also Charlie Bolden, one of the most decorated aviators and marine astronauts, has always been an advocate of education that helps children see what is possible. He continues to inspire me.
Amanda: What was it like having Katherine Johnson as your mentor?
Leland Katherine was grace, humility, talent, and persistence, all combined. When he spoke, people listened like the EF Hutton commercial of the time. Movie Pre-Hidden Figures I didn’t know what Katherine had to endure just to do what she loved, “the calculations” that would take astronauts into space and return safely. It was a pioneer in the calculations that produce orbital trajectories that took us to the Moon and back. She helped me get into space, but I love her so dearly for her passion for inspiring and educating children and youth to see themselves as the next generation of explorers.
Amanda: What inspired you during this period of quarantine?
Leland While you’re in a world of chaos revolving around your television and internet, you can turn off and find ways to reinvent yourself. Practicing the piano more, walking my dogs more, cooking more, learning more about myself and my place to affect positive change. I spoke to around 50,000 Zoom students teaching them about my trip to space and why it is important to work hard and believe in yourself. Usually, I traveled to give these kinds of motivational / aspirational talks, but now from my laptop I saw the power of the Internet to spread hope and optimism. This time, Covid reconnected me and confirmed how powerful storytelling can be to inspire.
Follow Leland at lelandmelvin.com @astro_flow on Twitter, @lelandmelvin on Instagram and Facebook. Leland is the author of Chasing space: the story of an astronaut on sand, grace and second chances
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