Leland Devon Melvin posed for his official NASA portrait with his dogs Jake and Scout! You can see they were excited about it. More pictures were taken after the dogs calmed down. Melvin was an NFL player until injuries ended his career, then an astronaut, flying on two shuttle missions to the ISS, until hearing failure grounded him. Melvin still works with NASA, and with several organizations to promote STEM education. Besides all that, he’s a photographer, snowboarder, and dog lover. -via Daily of the Day
(Image credit: NASA)
That hearing failure occurred on photo day, when one of his dogs bit his right ear off.