Into the National Football league that has been flown into space. When i say beyond i mean 250 miles above the earth and beyond. He was a born in virginia. The foregoing onto the university of richmond. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1986. Who received his masters degree from the university of engineer. In the area of nondestructive testing creating optical fiber sensors for measuring damage. For the lockheed martin. It has logged more than 565 hours in space including two missions. Since then he was a pointed the have of nasa education and served as the cochair. A global collaboration and learning about space. When theyre not expiring the next generation he is pursuing his hobby as a photographer, musician and a writer. His new book cannot desmet dash mike came out last week. It is available in the children and teens department. I want to introduce leland melvin. Wow. This is my first book signing and im still blown away. I have always thought about maybe writing a book one day but i didnt really know the process or the things that were can happen in this whole process. And april 2001 my parents had at 35th wedding anniversary i was sitting in the car with my cousin phyllis and a friend of hers named jeanette suarez. This is what my life change in a really dramatic way. Her friend was this person who have a message for me. She said something will happen to you no one will know why this happened she said you were healed of the same and then you will fly in space and share the story with the world. Thank you for that information. I will take that under advisement. I just come back from russia i was in russia for two years working with the first crew i was there crew support astronaut. Helping them get ready to find space. For those of you that dont know this. 99 percent of the time astronauts are as supporting other people other missions other things. The service in this piece that we do to help others get ready was something i was told your neck in a flight that often but you will help other people more than you fly. That was in 2000 that they launched. I stayed over there in december. We hope it was that was a communication stuff and now it was time for me to train. I was in line to do my first training to good on the water and trained to do a spacewalk. There is a stifled block. Its about that big. And is brokered into the helmet so that you can actually push you know to get it. This jeanette said something will happen to you. No one will know why this happened. During the training event im going down in this pool. And i noticed that its not in the helmet. As i dive and stuff i need to clear my heirs so you can do this job maneuver thing. I am frantically moving my job when i realize realized this pad is not in my home. And then he said dont yourself. Im in a try to keep going because there are probably 200 people supporting this training rent he is on the other side and he is over down i had been waiting for two years almost three years to do this training. As a gateway to get a plate acerbic quickly. If we demonstrated that we could do this. I hear nothing but static in white noise and so they rushed me out. They get me on the deck. They pop my helmet off. In the dr. Walks over to me, how many of you have read the book . So the dr. Is talking to me but i dont hear anything coming out of his mouth. And he walks over to me and he touches his right might rate your with his finger. The blood was coming out of my ear. I said okay were nasa that we we can figure this out. The rushing to the hospital there is a dr. Named bobby alford. He is one of the best they want to go in and do the surgery to try to find out what happened. They going and they start pressing on this. The fluid is actually leaking out of your window. I have this picture in the book i think all the doctors have their heads down. My sisters there. There through the yellow legal pads. All my friends are here. We can find anything. At that moment when everybody leaves he is sweeping on. He saw this problem on the board. There is the music. Whenever i used to hear that music i would be so inspired. I realize i couldnt hear when i watched the video of him sitting in the car kind of feeling this euphoria. And me not being able to hear the music. I can hear what she said right. She wrote remember what jeanette said. You will be healed of it you will be flying in space. He will share your testimony with others. People are helping me they are looking after me and my family. So when i am in the environment like that. I probably focus more. They already know what happened. They said very emphatically you will never fly in space. And thats when they have the education friends in here. We were going to hire teachers to become astronauts. They were nominating their teachers. Getting the team together. They went on the road to start off. I was actually driving from dc i was driving home to see them. You guys know dena lawson very well. The orbiter is late. The is a glider coming in. The counter clock gets to zero. It was now counting up. How holly is it. Everyone at nasa headquarters was assembling that. The first thing we do is take care of that at that point i was told to drive out to washington virginia where david brown he was the mission specials on the fight. I drove out there it was nighttime there were satellite trucks on the side of the road. A state trooper it was a blocking entrance to the mountains because of reporter had acted as a florist to get up there to get the story. They let me through. I walk in the house and i will never forget this moment. It was very transformative. Im going there to console to parents had just lost her son i walk in and i hug davids mom. His father, judge brown is in a wheelchair. He says something to me. Im not flying because im disqualified. My son is gone. Theres nothing you can do to bring him back but the biggest tragedy would be if we dont continue to fly in space to honor them by carrying on their legacy. And then we start crying. I say there overnight. What is try to figure this thing out. So honor the legacy by flying. The doctors have told me youre never going to fly. His father just told me this thing that really impacted me. Over the next few months we fly in the nasa airplane around the country. Or taken off and landing. And the have of all of the flight surgeons he is sitting beside me on every flight. So now it is about the middle of may in the educator ask our program we are about to send all of the applicants down to houston for them to go through the selection process. And so my work in dc has done. And dr. Richard williams calls me into his office. Ive been watching what you are doing. I believe in you. And he signs me a waiver to fly in space. The more of that story for the kids there. As you never know what can happen but he always had to keep going and believing in their cells. There other people that do believe in you. Threat my life ive had people that believed in me. Started i did very that fuel my curiosity. To help me. And this moment is kind of like a crossroad in my life as an astronaut. Without this piece of paper. I would have never flown in space. The prophecy from this woman jeanette i never met before that also gave me the hope. That is really what this book is about. The little engine that could. Curious george. Maybe they need to read it again. But having the spirit of exploration. It was him that was given to me through my community and my parents. To give me my piano lessons in my clarinet lessons and all of these lessons and things he worked hard so that i can get these things. But the day he drove a bread truck into our driveway was the day i said okay this is enough. This is when i learned about vision. He said this is our camper. I did do not have a vision. What he did. He was always doing things on the cheap to take care of his family and the bread truck cost 500. Over that summer i became an engineer. I build bunk built bunkbeds that flipped out from the side of the truck over the summer i learned what engineering and science was about. I also learned what it meant to have a vision for something. To have this thing being converted into repurposed for something else. It wasnt until we painted that off the truck that i realized about the camper. We spent countless hours driving across the country in this bread truck that was now a keeper. The grit was always there. I was always seen after my mom and dad. The most beatable thing about beautiful thing about my parents was that they were both school to teachers for over 30 plus years. And i retired from nasa. And retired in 2014 to move back home to be with my father. I got home on a sunday. Im talking to him. I dont need a bath. Having this conversation and it was beautiful. And then the next he was gone. I was trying to figure out my life as an astronaut all of the 24 years working with nasa because i have retired from it. The reason i moved home was to be with my dad. And he was now gone. That was a moment of really trying to dig deeper deep and understand the purpose of my the two most important days of your life for the day you are born in the day you figure out why. What is our purpose. Mark twain didnt really say that. Figuring that why out. And as as a society in this day and age all of us figuring out why we are here thats why i wrote this book. Its a Family Community not giving them believing in up believing in me when i didnt believe in myself as a journey of the steam education. I grew up not even knowing what it was but i was living every day. All these Different Things. I think one of the things that will help us as a civilization is when i realized that we are on the small blue marble together would always see this happening every day from the Vantage Point of International Space station when i look out over virginia and i see my hometown from space to an and 40 miles up the distance from dc to new york not that far really. Going around the planet every 90 minutes. And having these moments where i am flying over virginia. It shows you how connected we are as a people and then flying over afghanistan and looking down to see how beautiful it is but knowing what is happening down there. From that Vantage Point it simply stunning. I will try to you all signed up for space x mission. He might be the lucky one to get this. If you get an opportunity or through the experience you have to get to see this the changes you as a person to make you want to do better when you see our planet from that Vantage Point. My First Mission i was up there dr. Peggy whitson. For the young ladies in here i until you that experiencing peggy running the show large and in charge with all of these men was one of the most pitiful beatable things i have ever seen. To have that respect and excellence was just remarkable. I talk to talked to her three months ago. Shell be the longest running u. S. Astronaut in space. The number of space walks record. They just had one did one i think the other day. Another thing thats in the book. I think i caught the space smorgasbord we had finished installing the columbus laboratory. When i first got the assignment there was maybe 20 german flight controllers in houston they were there working together with the flight directors and people to make sure that everything was in play. To install this European Space agency laboratory. They had found out that i was now assigned to be the root bike armed operator and they been waiting ten years to install this module. All the job security depending on me and sign it properly. I walk into this room and these 20 guys in there like highfiving me and chest bumping me. Weve been waiting all this time. As a start to walk out of the room. This one guy looks at me and he says we had been waiting ten years dont screwed up. Dont screwed up. My hand is on the rotational hand controller. Im birthing it from the space shuttle. And there were starting to turn and position it to install it to the side of the space station. Getting closer and closer and the motion stops. Im still pulling in the hand controller. In the back of my mind i hear this dont screwed up. What happened were there indicators and they tell you basically severe like this you will see on the commute pewter monitor that these two are engaged. These two are not. So Peggy Whitson shes watching all of this kind of like floating behind this and i was moving the hand control so slowly. The four indicators distill the motion out. I pulled one time. It was birth to the space station. They were not seen my name in vain. I will never forget that moment. That was my major task to do on this mission. The other was to bring them home. And a trance or some other things the night that we installed europes baby was i have this cognitive shift in my head you guys go over it with that rehydrated vegetables and we will have the meat. All of my team has heard the story. So we flowed over with this food and the airplane through the speakers rate. I think smooth operators plane. And theyre kind of floating up. People are kind of around the table. As a table over there. And we come in and swooped down with our vegetables and we velcro them to the table and theres some hot sauce there. Were just about to have this incredible meal and thats when i look out the window and i think were coming over virginia and i think we can kinda see the Virginia Area and i just look around me and i see breaking bread with. With to work together. After that moment we did the rest of our task and i came back home. And it fundamentally changed me. I hope when you read the book you see that piece of their because i think thats what everyone of us needs to do to make sure that we are doing our part to keep us thriving and so again these were all little points in pieces that i want you to hear from my heart why put those things in there. Kind of the ending of the book is like the future of our little guys and girls and to make sure that they have the tools they need to take our places. And to be effective and a lot that is having access and been able to utilize the internet and if they dont have something in school they dont get the hands on experience that i have weve created this websites demography that part of my team is here and we just kind of celebrated the lunch of the childrens book. They would go into the menu. It tells the story through images and videos. I saw arthur ash during ashe doing these incredible things. Even though everybody wanted to be Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. My journey to becoming an astronaut was never one of i want to be an astronaut it was people that said youd be a good astronaut and i said really, me. I dont see that. How is our time. Should you some questions now. I am sam hancock. In the current political and economic environment is that it is almost the reactionary that we dont want to fail instead of most of americans we want to win. And we want to do the very best that we can not just for our country but for the earth. How do we rekindle that to the youth so that they are not seen that we want to be fearful about their but we embrace it and we carry it forward in the future so that we have another hundred years of abundance and said to be being fearful about what we may not had. And thank you for being here. I heard you on the radio the other day. Very nice job. When i went on the show. Thank you very much. I think a lot of it were working and looking at our government to fix things. When i grew up i was not even think thinking about that. However we can get back home and i know a lot of kids dont have what i have. But we as a community had to instill the sense of cando spirit. Whatever administrations in and office at the time. I do get is more grassroots where things get done and hopefully they can engender this type of spirit in the youth and the groups that need to get these things done to carry those messages forward. If enough people are shouting loud enough to say that we need to do these things and they vote in a particular way that is where the change happens. You can be apathetic at home and her hands up. We have to have a strong voice and lift up our kids and in spire communities and being together as a community to make a change in a difference. I am in third grade. Ive two questions. He wants to be in an engineer and nasa. If one thing you want to say to him well that be okay that the first syncing is to do is believe in himself. The other thing as serious to work very hard and be very disciplined. Science and engineering they are kind of exacting subjects in the more that you study it and learn it the better you will be at executing it. Work hard time to eat his green beans and have fun. And to be curious. Another question as how did you feel being up in space. When i first got the space after the eight and half minutes elapsed i got there i was strapped into my seat and i started seeing things floating around me. I am still strapped in. And right when the engines cut off because my inter ear that tells you what orientation you are in. That no longer works. I felt like i was doing a somersault even though i was strapped to my seat. I ended my seatbelt. I floated towards the front seat and a bounce into that one. Like a pingpong ball going back and forth. And then i have to get to work. My job was to take a video of the external tank. I started filming that. It went away. And i saw the beauty of our planet. The blues in the greens of our ocean. Let about an hour later i got sick. Something is happening here. Then i got back to work. I felt great i thought beautiful things. We have this great meal. It was incredible. It is an honor listening and speaking to you. Are there any other questions. I can keep talking. Both of you, not. Whats your question. Whats your question. Once name is jake and one name was scout. Jake is the run on the right in my ear. Knowledge of other ask other questions all the questions. Are there any other questions. Thank you for coming out everyone. This is really inspiring. Yes sir. First off hey man. We have this president that is retracting semi Different Things about Climate Change and so until recently they announced the thing about france and coming back about climate and then you having so much direct experience about the planet. I was at the march for science. I believe that we have centers and data and your actually seen the changes in our environment on a daily basis due to the effects of those actually. The cows are producing because of our potential for red meat. The combination of methane and co2 from cars and all of these things are definitely impacting our planet. If you think about the oceans were talking about 2050 the oceans becoming sterile because of all of the co2 thats getting absorbed and creating a toxic environment. For our wildlife in the ocean. I can see the amazon burning. Because of the timing between the two missions i did not see i see that indication every day chasing ice. Whats happening to my planet. That is a ver