Va. Astronaut Takes Delays in Stride

Will the third time be the charm for Lynchburg native Leland Melvin’s leap into space?

After two scrubs and two months’ delay, Melvin and the rest of the STS-122 crew await liftoff today at 2:45 p.m.

However, NASA yesterday declared a 70 percent chance that stormy weather might force another postponement. Atlantis also could launch tomorrow or Saturday, when the weather is expected to improve.

"I am feeling great," Melvin said yesterday from Kennedy Space Center.

December’s launch was scrubbed because of nagging problems with external fuel-tank sensors, which NASA repaired.

Melvin, who played football at Heritage High School in Lynchburg and the University of Richmond before joining the NFL, said he has been able to handle waiting for liftoff because of his experience waiting for kickoff.

"We would sit in a locker room. . . . I would sit there, I would go to sleep or listen to music or think about everything except the game. I wouldn’t really think about getting on the ‘game face’ until we walked on the field.

"So to relate that back to now, until the [shuttle's two] solid rocket boosters light, you’re not going anywhere," he said.

The boosters provide the main thrust to lift the space shuttle. They ignite at T minus 0, after the three main engines roar to life.

"That’s when the game starts, not before."

During his first spaceflight, Melvin, 43, will operate the space station’s robotic arm to remove a European science module from the shuttle’s payload bay and attach it to the International Space Station.

Melvin said he spent the past two months continuing with mission preparations. Yesterday, he conducted computer simulations of the robotic maneuvers he’ll perform before the lab module can be installed. He also worked on his crew notebook, a thick binder filled with notes, tips and instructions.

He spent time yesterday bicycling around Cape Canaveral and talking with his family, many of whom still live in the Lynchburg area.

Many of the nearly 100 friends and relatives gathering in Florida planned to arrive yesterday, hoping to see Melvin set a three-way tie as NASA’s 300th American astronaut in space.

Melvin was a chemistry major at UR. The university plans to air the launch today on a widescreen TV in Tyler Haynes Commons for the academic community to watch.

It was during his injury-shortened NFL career that he began work on a master’s degree in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia.

Melvin joined NASA in 1989 and worked at the Langley Research Center in Hampton. He was selected for the astronaut class of 1998 and was assigned in 2006 to the upcoming mission.

Atlantis is scheduled to land Feb. 18 at 9:57 a.m. at Kennedy Space Center. If the mission goes as planned, Melvin will celebrate his 44th birthday in space Feb. 15. The menu that day calls for chocolate pudding cake.

"That’s going to be pretty cool," he said. "Maybe a cake, but no candles. You don’t want open flames in space."

Melvin noted that his flight also falls during Black History Month.

"To be there for my birthday and Black History Month, it’s special," he said.