Eileen Collins is rightly listed among the 300 women who changed the world in the 20th century. She became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle and the first woman to command a NASA shuttle. Learn more about the grandiose success of this New York resident at newyorka.
Youth of the future astronaut
Collins was born to a family of Irish immigrants in 1956 in New York State. From an early age, she faced a series of challenges, for example, her parents’ divorce, stuttering, shyness and difficulties in communication with other people and children. Nevertheless, her dreams were grandiose. Collins dreamed of becoming a pilot in the future.
From her childhood, she led an active and very interesting life. Collins was a member of the Girl Scouts organization. But she did not stop dreaming about piloting. She subscribed to the Air Force magazine and read a lot about the pilots of the Second World War to learn more about that sphere.
The piloting dream comes true
Obviously, after graduating from school, Collins wanted to connect her life with the US Air Force once and for all. However, when her father found out about her desire to enlist in the army, he adamantly opposed that idea. Thus, Collins had to give up her dream. Instead of the US Air Force, she entered a local college, where she majored in mathematics. Nevertheless, Collins continued to dream about piloting. So, after graduation, she decided to enroll in Syracuse’s new Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. It appeared due to the revision of the US Air Force policy about the admission of women to pilot training. However, women still could not participate in combat tasks. The first 10 women pilots were enrolled in the program’s first course in 1976, with Collins among them.
As part of the program, Collins and other pilots underwent basic training, which included
- a morning run (more than a mile in 12 minutes)
- classes on the US Air Force history
- classes on flight theory
- a flight on the Fairchild C-123 Provider military transport aircraft
- a flight on the Cessna T-37 Tweet twin-engined training aircraft with an instructor.
After graduating from Syracuse University, Collins was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the USAF. She was very successful in her career as she constantly studied and was given higher ranks. Eventually, when Collins earned the captain rank, she began to dream of conquering space.
Dreams about space
Collins got the chance to go into space in the late 1980s when NASA announced the recruitment of new astronauts. There were more than 2,000 participants in that program and Collins became one of them. However, only 1,900 participants met the minimum requirements.
Before getting to NASA, Collins and other applicants were interviewed for a week. Specialists conducted various examinations, medical observations, evaluations, etc. during this period. It turned out that Collins had eyesight problems, which were connected with depth perception. But she successfully passed the alternative medical test.
In 1990, Collins was selected by NASA for the special shuttle space mission out of more than 2,000 applicants. She became the first woman to pilot the STS-63 space shuttle in 1995.