leland melvin has been in space twice, work for nasa for 20 some years. your chance to talk to an astronaut., (202)748-8200 eastern and central time zone.time 748-8201 for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zones. what were you doing that you are able to apply to nasa because a lot of people i'm sure would like to apply to nasa.th >> well, after leaving the dallas cowboys with a pulled hamstring and going to graduate school full-time and i got my masters degree, this woman said hey, you should come work for nasa. unlike i'm going to work for dupont, make more money there. he was tenacious. he said we need people like you at nasa and i applied and ended up getting the job to work as ar research engineer. >> i was in material science engineer, but we were working on nondestructive evaluation science is, building systems for measuring damage in the space shuttle for aerospace vehicles using different types of mng sensors, lasers, systems for measuring damage. >> host: you threw something in there about the dallas cowboys. >> guest: well, i got dra

the author and our guest is leland melvin. booktv's live coverage of the 17th annual national book festival now continues. we

leland melvin has been in space twice, worked for nasa for 20-some years. your chance to talk to an astronaut. 202 is the area code, 748-8200 in the east and central time zones, 748-82013 for those of you -- 8201 for those in the mountain and pacific time zones. what were you doing that you were able to apply to nasa? because a lot of people, i'm sure, would hike to apply -- would like to a apply to nasa. >> guest: right. after leaving the dallas cowboys with a pulled hamstring, i got my master's degree in science engineering, and this woman said, hey, you should come work for nasa. i'm like, i'm going to work for dupont or dow, they make more money there. but she was tenacious.s. she said we need people like you at nasa. and i applied and ended up getting the job to work at nasa langley as a research assistant -- as a research engineer. >> host: in what field? >> guest: so i was a material science engineer, but we were working in an area called nondestructive evaluation sciences. so we were building systems for measuring damage in the space shuttle tiles o

[laughter] >> leland melvin is our guest, he has flown twice atlantis in 2008 and the second time wasatlantis as well? how long were you there? >> the first mission 12 days and the second 14 days or vice versa day. >> if you were flying, would you go? >> i would go. >> should have missions ended? >> heavy lift to deploy satellites. we completed the space station build-out, we have spacex and other people delivering cargo with the cost of the space shuttle program, we would not be able to build a new rocket system and the vehicle to go pass lower orbit. so we want to go past that and, you know, maybe assist lunar space station will help us to get to mars one day. it was the right thing to do. >> let's hear from our callers, jane, first, you're with author and astronaut leland melvin. >> hi, leland, i was going to ask about the astronaut that's been there for 65 days, what do you think about that? >> peggy witson, she was my commander in 2008 on the space station. she applied 13 times to become an astronaut, rejected 12 times. she is one of my heros, she's a maker woman and she is one o

the author and our guest is leland melvin. hillary clinton's new book what happened about the tribe the 16 presidential election will be police -- released this tuesday. she appeared this morning on cbs sunday morning here is a portion of the interview. after the first of the year i have a big decision to make was i going to go to the inauguration. >> i am a former first lady and former president and first ladies show up. it's part of that demonstration of the continuity of our government. there he was on the platform feeling like an out of body experience and then his speech which was a cry from the white nationalist gods. this american carnage stops. part of my supporters but i'm the president of all americans. the newest book what happened will be released on tuesday by simon and schuster. and on monday evening september 18 book tv will be to be will be covering a discussion between hillary clinton and politics and prose co-owner and former chief speech writer they will discuss secretary clinton's presidential campaign in 2

. >> i have leland melvin with me now.e is the author of "chasing space: an astronaut's story of grit, dprgrace, and second chances." it is great to have you here and thank you so much for everything you've done for this country way, way up above. but let's first talk about the president and i would love to get your response to what the president said moments ago at the white house. the informnfl has to change and business is going to hell. >> from s.o.b. to going to had s hades. we have to stop this diatribe and this language against people. it's not unifying the country, it's tearing us apart. and from space, you don't see -- you see no borders. you see people working together that used to fight against the russians and the germans and now we're working together and breaking bread. mr. president, please, please, tone it down. the constitution allows us to do these things. allows us to pray and protest and have freedom of religion and petition. let's do the things that the constitution says. veterans say that the flag, yo

the author and our guest is leland melvin. booktv's live coverage of the 17th annual national book festival now continues. we will hear from best-selling author michael lewis. his most recent book is "the undoing project: a friendship that changed our minds". this is booktv live coverage. >> can you hear me? i am hearing echoes. all good? we found out michael is supposed to do a power point presentation, takes half an hour to find the power point presentation. thank you for being here and the library of congress. thank you, the chairman of the festival. we will have a little chat, a couple of old friends with 1 million other new acquaintances in the hall. we go way back. let's start talking about you are an art history major at princeton and you go to wall street and do really well. you could have been rich, you know? you could have your own plane this morning. instead you go into the book business. >> so you know, it is just an accident, they didn't know each other. this is an opportunity to express all the resentment. this i

vance and michael lewis, astronaut leland melvin and many others. now, for a complete schedule visit booktv.org, and you can follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes videos. we're on facebook,visit facebook.com/booktv, @booktv is our twitter handle and on instagram, we're at book underscore tv.. this year's festival kicks off with librarian of congress carla haden making opening remarks, and she'll be followed immediately by author and historian david mccullough. you're watching booktv on c-span2 live from the 17th annual national book festival. [applause] >> wow, i was so worried -- [cheers and applause] i was so worried. it was raining -- [laughter] and i thought, book lovers are going to want to stay in bed concern. [laughter] and read. [laughter] well, here you are. thank you and good morning. [applause] >> and welcome to the 2017 national book festival. i'm carla hayden, and i'm so honored to be able to say i'm the 14th librarian of congress. [applause] and as you can see, i'm pretty excited to open this event, our 17th conse

t the author and our guest is leland melvin. booktv live coverage of the is 7th annual book festival now continues. we'll hear from best-selling author, michael lewis. his most recent book, "the undoing project." a friendship that changed our mind. this is booktv's live coverage. >> can you hear me? i'm hearing an echo. it's all good? we just found out michael is supposed to do a power point presentation. that will take us half an houred to find the power point presentation he forgot to bring. thank you for being here. thank you to the library of congress. thank you to david rubenstein, the head of the festival. we'll have a chat, a couple of old friend, along with one million other new acquaintances in the hall. michael and i go way back. we'll start talking about you were a art history major at princeton, right? then you go off to wall street, you do really, really well at saloman brothers. michael, you could have been rich, you know? you could have your own plane at that point. instead you went into the book business. tell us