Categories: NASA

We Love Astronaut Leland Melvin’s Official NASA Portrait

NASA astronaut Leland Melvin with his dogs Jake and Scout. Credit: NASA.

Astronaut Leland Melvin won the internet this week – and increased NASA’s “Awwww!” factor — when this photo surfaced of him and his two dogs, Jake and Scout. Melvin admitted on Twitter that he snuck the dogs into the photo shoot for his “real” official NASA portrait (see below). A look at his Twitter feed shows he obviously loves his dogs, as they dominate the images he shares.

Melvin appeared on the National Geographic Show “Dog Whisperer” and according to a blurb about the show Jake and Scout wandered into Leland’s yard one day. They were on the show to help with Jake, who is very protective of Leland and won’t let anyone approach him.

The Tweet that started it all:

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And here’s Melvin’s real official photo that is used on his NASA bio:

Astronaut Leland D. Melvin, mission specialist for the STS-129 space shuttle mission. Credit: NASA.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/