78 Facts About Eileen Collins

Eileen Marie Collins was born on 19 November 1956 and is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force colonel.

Eileen Collins was one of four women chosen for Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

Eileen Collins earned a Master of Science degree in operations research from Stanford University in 1986, and a Master of Arts degree in space systems management from Webster University in 1989.

In 1990, Eileen Collins was selected to be a pilot astronaut with NASA Astronaut Group 13.

Eileen Collins flew the Space Shuttle as the pilot of the 1995 STS-63 mission, which involved a space rendezvous between Discovery and the Russian space station Mir.

Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a US spacecraft with STS-93, which launched in July 1999 and deployed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

Eileen Collins retired from the USAF in January 2005 with the rank of colonel, and from NASA in May 2006.

Eileen Marie Collins was born in Elmira, New York, on 19 November 1956.

Eileen Collins's parents were James Edward Collins and his wife Rose Marie O'Hara.

Eileen Collins had three siblings: an older brother, a younger sister, and a younger brother.

Eileen Collins's father served in the US Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Eileen Collins's parents separated when she was young, and her mother took a job as a stenographer at the Elmira Correctional Facility.

Eileen Collins expressed an early interest in becoming a pilot, subscribing to Air Force Magazine and reading books about World War II-era military aviators such as Fate Is the Hunter and God Is My Co-Pilot.

Eileen Collins attended St Patrick's School in Elmira up to the eighth grade and then Notre Dame High School, a Catholic high school, but was unhappy there.

Eileen Collins then entered Syracuse University, which she chose because it had an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

Eileen Collins noted their names and followed their progress and subsequent careers with interest, hoping to soon follow in their footsteps.

Six weeks after graduating from Corning, Eileen Collins reported to Rickenbacker Air Force Base for her basic training.

Women had different fitness standards from the men, but Eileen Collins was granted permission to do the morning run with the men, who had to run 12 furlongs in less than 12 minutes.

Eileen Collins took flying lessons in a Cessna 150 at Elmira Corning Regional Airport, eventually flying solo, but did not have time to complete all the requirements for a private pilot license.

In January 1978, Eileen Collins received orders to report to Offutt Air Force Base upon graduation from Syracuse, to become a computer systems engineer.

Eileen Collins graduated later that year with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and economics.

Eileen Collins received orders to report to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for the Flight Screening Program In August 1978.

Eileen Collins was one of four women in the class; there were ten men.

Eileen Collins was almost eliminated on medical grounds due to her left eye and a suspected heart murmur, but was cleared to fly.

Eileen Collins received her pilot wings at the conclusion of this training, and was selected to become a flight instructor.

Eileen Collins was the first woman to become a T-38 instructor pilot, and the only woman flight instructor at Vance between September 1979 and December 1982.

Now a captain, Eileen Collins set her sights on becoming an astronaut.

Eileen Collins had already accumulated over a thousand hours flying as an instructor at Vance, but the USAF does not consider a trainer an operational aircraft, unlike a fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, transport or refueling aircraft.

Eileen Collins requested an assignment flying the Convair F-106 Delta Dart, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II or Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, but women were still not permitted to fly combat aircraft, so she was assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California, to fly the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, a transport aircraft that had been her 21st choice, as a co-pilot.

Eileen Collins flew long-range missions such as the "Double Diego" run to Diego Garcia via Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii, Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, and Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.

Eileen Collins flew the "coral run" to Kwajalein Atoll, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll and Midway Atoll, and to European destinations in Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom in support of the annual Reforger exercises.

From August 1986 to June 1989, Eileen Collins was assigned to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, where she was an assistant professor in mathematics, teaching courses on calculus and linear algebra, and a T-41 instructor pilot.

Eileen Collins had begun dating a fellow C-141 pilot, James P Youngs, in August 1983.

Eileen Collins hoped that this rule would be waived, but her first two applications for the USAF Test Pilot School were rejected on these grounds.

Eileen Collins became the second woman pilot to attend when she joined Class 89B in June 1989.

Eileen Collins was the most senior member of the class, as she was the only one with the rank of major, which made her the class leader.

Eileen Collins's application was one of nearly 2,500 received by the 30 June 1989 deadline, of which 1,945 met the minimum requirements for pilots or mission specialists.

In September 1989, Eileen Collins received a call from Duane Ross, the selection board's administrative officer, inviting her to come to the Johnson Space Center with the second of five groups of hopefuls for a week of interviews, examinations, medical evaluations and orientation, commencing on 2 October 1989.

Eileen Collins reported for duty at JSC on 16 July 1990, after graduating from the USAF Test Pilot School.

Eileen Collins knew one other member of the group well: Susan Helms had been a fellow assistant professor at the Air Force Academy and graduate student at Stanford.

Pilot ASCANs honed their skills flying the T-38, an aircraft with which Eileen Collins was already familiar.

Eileen Collins was assigned to orbiter systems, with particular responsibility for the auxiliary power units.

Eileen Collins spent sixteen months as an ASP, assisting with ten Space Shuttle missions between February 1992 and June 1993.

Eileen Collins first flew the Space Shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard STS-63.

Eileen Collins became the second cosmonaut to fly on the Space Shuttle.

In preparation for the mission, Eileen Collins flew over 500 approaches and landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a NASA training vehicle that duplicated the orbiter's approach profile and handling qualities.

Eileen Collins's responsibilities included running the Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-1, a Coca-Cola dispensing machine.

Eileen Collins's first child, Bridget, was born nine months later.

In preparation for the mission, Eileen Collins completed one hundred hours of Russian language classroom training, but she usually relied on Precourt translating for her.

For Eileen Collins, it was the first and only time a launch had occurred without delays.

Eileen Collins spent most of the time filling bags with drinking water.

Eileen Collins carried out a photographic survey of the exterior of Mir through portholes on Mir and the overhead windows on Atlantiss flight deck.

Eileen Collins had heard of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility and indicated to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Bob Cabana, that she was interested in flying the mission to deploy it.

Eileen Collins was apprehensive that Hawley would attempt to command the mission.

Eileen Collins's fears proved groundless; Hawley offered wisdom and advice but made no attempt to interfere with Collins's command of the mission.

The launch day of 20 July 1999, coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, so former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Eileen Collins were at KSC to watch the launch.

Eileen Collins used the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment to talk to children on amateur radio stations with her call sign KD5EDS.

Eileen Collins was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission.

Eileen Collins opened the New York Stock Exchange on 7 January 2000, and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show on 25 April 2000.

Eileen Collins had a miscarriage in November 1999, but a son, Luke, was born in November 2000.

Eileen Collins relinquished this position on being assigned to command STS-93.

Eileen Collins then became the chief of the Space Shuttle Branch, remaining in this role until November 2000, when she left on maternity leave.

In turn, Eileen Collins handed over the position to Dom Gorie when she was assigned to command STS-114 in late 2001.

Eileen Collins was concerned about the proposed workload; she knew from her experience on STS-93 that a hectic schedule and pressure to get things done often resulted in mistakes.

Eileen Collins advocated for at least one rookie astronaut to be assigned to the flight, and Charles Camarda was added.

Eileen Collins visited the Rockwell International plant in Canoga Park, California, where the SSMEs were refurbished, the Thiokol factory in Brigham City, Utah, where the solid rocket boosters were made, and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the Space Shuttle external tank was assembled.

Eileen Collins expressed reservations about the studs that held the Space Shuttle in place on the launch pad.

Eileen Collins had concerns about the booster separation motors that separated the SRBs from the orbiter.

Eileen Collins blamed herself for not pushing Michoud harder to effect changes.

Eileen Collins became the first astronaut to fly an orbiter through a complete 360-degree pitch maneuver.

Eileen Collins then flew under the ISS and docked with it.

Eileen Collins was relieved to find that the tires were in good shape.

Eileen Collins retired from the USAF in January 2005 with the rank of colonel.

Eileen Collins had flown 6,751 hours in thirty different types of aircraft, and logged over 872 hours in space flights.

Eileen Collins was the commencement speaker at the 148th commencement of Syracuse University in May 2001.

Eileen Collins addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on 20 July 2016, leading to speculation that she might be appointed NASA administrator under Donald Trump.

Eileen Collins received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2001, the Free Spirit Award, National Space Trophy, and Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award in 2006, the Space Foundation Douglas S Morrow Public Outreach Award in 2007, the Harmon Trophy in 2020, and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2022.

Eileen Collins was inducted into the National Women's Hall Of Fame in 1995, the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2009, the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame on 19 April 2013, and the Texas Aviation Hall Of Fame at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas, on 6 May 2020.