A former NASA astronaut with Western New York roots has been nominated by President Joe Biden to a top spot with the space agency. On Friday, Biden nominated Col. Pam Melroy, who considers Rochester her hometown, to serve as the agency’s deputy administrator. Melroy is one of only two women to command a space shuttle and logged more than 38 days in space. All three of her missions involved helping build the International Space Station. Credit NASA Born in Palo Alto, CA, she graduated from Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester in 1979 and her parents still live in Upstate New York. She earned a bachelor of arts in Physics and Atronomy from Wellesley College and a master of science degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.