NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

She's an Air Force Colonel, shuttle pilot and STS-120 commander. Now Pamela Melroy adds gameshow participant to her list of credentials, showing her less serious side on NPR's "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" The show's focus is having well-known people from all walks of life answer questions on subjects well outside their area of expertise.

Image left: STS-112 pilot Pamela A. Melroy is the center of attention, surrounded by mission specialists Piers J. Sellers (left) and David A. Wolf, suited up for the first spacewalk of the 2002 mission. Click image to enlarge. Image credit: NASA.

For Col. Melroy this meant answering a series of questions taken from the Crunk Awards, which are handed out by www.regrettheerror.com for the most embarrassing media errors and corrections. By correctly guessing 2 of 3 questions Col. Melroy won a prize for the show's chosen listener.

Col. Melroy also talked about her Air Force career and her time at NASA during the show's introduction. Making light of her short stature she quipped, "you have to be able to reach the brake pedals," when questioned by the show's host about why her height initially disqualified her from becoming a pilot.

On a more serious note, Melroy will command STS-120, the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station, in September 2007, which will take the Node 2 connecting module to the station. Melroy, a veteran shuttle pilot, is the second woman to command a shuttle.

To listen to Col. Melroy's entire segment on the show, visit NPR's Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!