We Love Astronaut Leland Melvin's Official NASA Portrait

By Nancy Atkinson - February 03, 2015 02:29 PM UTC | Space Exploration

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:

This is an official portrait for astronaut Leland Melvin. Also, his handle is . I'm in awe. — Adam Aton (@AdamAton)

And here's Melvin's real official photo that is used on his

NASA bio:

[caption id="attachment_118731" align="aligncenter" width="512"]

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

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com