University of Richmond Athletics
Former Football Standout Leland Melvin To Touch Down In Space
07/20/2006 | Football
July 20, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -
Leland Melvin (UR '86), who still holds Richmond football records for career receptions and receiving yards, will be making the ultimate road trip next year as a crew member on NASA's space shuttle mission that will deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station.
Melvin joined the astronaut corps in 1998 after working at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton. He will be making his first space flight, scheduled for launch no earlier than September 2007.
He is fourth on Richmond's career touchdown receptions list with 16. He was an AP honorable mention All-America selection in 1984 and 1985 and second team Apple Academic All-America in 1985. A team captain during his senior season, Melvin had his best year in 1985, with 65 catches for 956 yards and eight TDs. His top game was in 1984 against James Madison, when he had 10 catches for 208 yards and one touchdown. Melvin caught at least one pass in every game he played as a Spider (39).
Melvin, who studied chemistry at Richmond, was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and has returned to campus many times, for both athletic and academic functions, often mentioning that his hope would be to someday be on a space flight and take Spider memorabilia with him.
