EILEEN COLLINS ASTRONAUT WEDNESDAY 1991 JOINED NASA AS AN ASTRONAUT 1983-1985 C-141 AIRCRAFT COMMANDER AND INSTRUCTOR PILOT AT TRAVIS AFB 1979-1982 T-38 INSTRUCTOR PILOT AT VANCE AFB EDUCATION MASTER OF ARTS IN SPACE SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT FROM WEBSTER UNIVERSITY (1989) MASTER OF SCIENCE IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH FROM STANFORD UNIVERSITY (1986) M.S. FROM SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY (1978) A.S. FROM CORNING COMMUNITY COLLEGE (1976) BIRTHDATE NOVEMBER 19, 1956
Eileen Collins is an astronaut and veteran of four space shuttle missions. She was the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission and logged over 537 hours in space during her tenure at NASA. Collins was born in Elmira, New York and earned her pilot’s license while she was studying at Corning Community College. After studying mathematics and science, operations research, and space systems management, she joined the Air Force as an instructor pilot and later became an aircraft commander at Travis Air Force Base in California. Collins was selected by NASA in January 1990 and became a pilot the following year. Her tenure earned her high honors including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal.