Virginia native Twitters from space

LYNCHBURG -- Lynchburg-born astronaut Leland Melvin is roughly 230 miles above Earth, but that's not stopping him from talking to his fans.

Melvin, a University of Richmond graduate, is beaming missives to land-based space enthusiasts via Twitter under the name "Astro_Flow."

"An amazingly beautiful launch & long day," Melvin said in a Twitter message dated Nov. 18 at 10:14 a.m. "Looked out the overhead window thru my wrist mirror. To all who helped make it happen Thank you."

Melvin is part of the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis on a weeklong mission delivering parts to the International Space Station.

Melvin doesn't actually use Twitter himself -- at least twice a day, astronauts are given a chance to send data down to NASA from space. They include their Twitter posts in these transmissions, and a NASA public affairs officer posts the messages online, said NASA spokesman John Yembrick.

Matt Busse is a staff writer for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.