Former astronaut, NFL player meets fans in Atlanta for Super Bowl

(Nexstar) – If you’ve ever wanted to take a journey through the galaxy and beyond, the Moon to Mars exhibit at the Super Bowl Live was the place to be.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex hosted a special meet-and-greet with NASA astronaut Leland Melvin and gave NFL fans a chance to explore the MRVN, the larger replica of a Mars rover concept vehicle.

Melvin was selected by the Detroit Lions in the 1986 Draft and is the only person to ever catch as pass in the NFL and in space. He spoke about the similarities of both his professions.

“The biggest thing about football is that you’re working together as this unit, this team, this crew. If someone doesn’t pull the right way, the quarterback gets in trouble right? So that trust is there. The same thing when I flew in the space shuttle. Four people on the cockpit working as one team to flip the right switches, to get into space in 8.5 minutes, so if we don’t work together as a team, we fail,” said Melvin.