Eileen collins
Eileen collins
The first female pilot of a Space Shuttle as well as the first female commander of a U.S. Spacecraft.
ProfessionAstronaut
Date of Birth19 November 1956
CityElmira, NY
everybody knew praying reason
She was praying for us -- everybody was praying for us. That's another reason I knew we were safe.
beyond discover farther faster fly humans invent people solar someday travel ways
My dream, now, is that people will discover and invent new ways to fly higher, faster and farther and that someday humans will travel beyond our solar system.
enjoy guys
You guys made the right decision. We're going to enjoy another orbit.
million parts perfectly shuttle space
There are 2 million other parts on the space shuttle that are working perfectly right now
focused good ground hands mission people staying
We are staying focused on the mission and we know we are in good hands with the people on the ground
four since trained wonderful
For many of us it's been four years since we trained for (this mission) and its been a wonderful experience.
copy houston wave
OK, Houston we copy that. We'll be a wave off for today.
cake finally icing wild
It's just been a wild ride. We've finally been able to put the icing on the cake with this mission.
mistakes risky
It will be expensive, it will be risky and we will make mistakes as we go. But we will do it because we are explorers by nature.
fantastic glad
We have had a fantastic mission. We are so glad to come back and be able to say it's a success.
astronaut program wanted
I wanted to apply to the astronaut program after the Challenger accident
pressure nerves emotion
I have no nerves, no emotion, no pressure.
moon design age
The vast majority of the shuttle program was a success. We learned so much about how a reusable spacecraft interacts with its environment, how it ages-and what to design next time.
opportunity thinking firsts
I'm honored to be the first woman to have the opportunity to command the shuttle. I don't really think about that on a day-to-day basis because I really don't need to.