<div><p>Leland Melvin has been a professional football player and an astronaut on the space shuttle, but he's probably most famous for a single photo of him and his two rescue dogs, Jake and Scout. You probably recognize this adorable snapshot, it's been shared endlessly since a reporter <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/national/this-may-the-best-official-portrait-ever/4OyqLMbOhtyJ3ib92cx2AP/">uncovered it a few years ago</a>, but there's an incredible story behind the picture you might not know.</p><p>When Leland rescued the two dogs years ago they became a huge part of his life, and he didn't let anything stop him from including them in his official NASA photo.</p><div><figure><a href="http://people.com/celebrity/astronaut-leland-melvin-poses-with-dogs-in-nasa-portrait/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/leland-melvin-800-2.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/leland-melvin-800-2_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/leland-melvin-800-2_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/leland-melvin-800-2_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="http://people.com/celebrity/astronaut-leland-melvin-poses-with-dogs-in-nasa-portrait/" target="_blank">People</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p>Leland adopted Jake, who had spent most of his life with an abusive family who kept him locked in a closet-sized room. Then, Scout wandered onto Melvin's property one day. Melvin thinks he was abandoned because he had caught heartworms.</p><div><amp-instagram height="1" width="1" layout="responsive" data-captioned="" data-shortcode="BPQxmQVDZZ9"></amp-instagram></div><p>The trio quickly became inseparable. In fact, Jake was so protective of Melvin that they had to ask for help from <a href="http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/dog-whisperer/galleries/episode-cesar-we-have-a-problem/at/dw-astronaut-dogs-mongo-07-12353/">Cesar Milan</a> to make him friendlier. Melvin took his pets hiking and traveled the country with them, so of course he wanted to include them in his official NASA photo.</p><p>But dogs weren't allowed on NASA property, so Melvin had to sneak them in.</p><p>"I kept the window up...and I had the stereo blasting because the dogs were barking," he told <a href="http://gizmodo.com/the-story-behind-this-astronauts-viral-photo-is-even-cu-1791888042">Gizmodo</a>.</p><p>"So I gunned it and the [security guard] didn't chase me or anything."</p><div><amp-instagram height="1" width="1" layout="responsive" data-captioned="" data-shortcode="BMwNIcQj8-i"></amp-instagram></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p>Sadly, since the photo was taken in 2009, both Jake and Scout have passed away.</p><p>But looking at his photo with them still makes Melvin happy.</p><p>"If you look at the picture, all of us are holding hands, all of us are connected," he says, "and it was just incredible."</p><p>Melvin says that as soon as he can he plans to adopt new dogs and name them Scout and Jake.</p><div><figure><a href="http://gizmodo.com/the-story-behind-this-astronauts-viral-photo-is-even-cu-1791888042" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/Giz.png" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="http://gizmodo.com/the-story-behind-this-astronauts-viral-photo-is-even-cu-1791888042" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"Our animals make us better people," Melvin told the <a href="http://www.today.com/pets/astronaut-leland-melvin-s-nasa-photo-includes-2-rescue-dogs-t107734">TODAY show</a>.</p><p>"And if we're better people, the world's a better place."</p><p><strong><strong>Share this heartwarming story with someone you know!</strong></strong></p></div>
Animals | Uplifting | Trending