Who Was Eileen Collins? First Woman To Command A NASA Space Shuttle

History hasn't been kind to women. Throughout the decades, women have had to fight for their right to work and equal pay, often facing discrimination and prejudice along the way. The space industry was no different. It was only in 1995, almost thirty years after Valentina Tereskova became the first woman in space, that female space shuttle pilots were allowed by NASA. One of the first of these female pilots was Eileen Collins. Born in disadvantaged circumstances, Eileen rose up the ranks through sheer grit and became the first female shuttle pilot ever. How did she get there? 

Who Was Eileen Collins?

Eileen Collins was a shy, quiet kid who grew up reading magazines about aeroplanes. In her article for the TIMES, Eileen recalls being obsessed with space when she was in fourth grade. But soon, she discovered that others didn't share her enthusiasm. At the time, there was no concept of a female astronaut. Eileen recalls, "It wasn't until high school that I realised it would be impossible for me to be an astronaut as a woman." 

The United States Air Force started allowing women pilots in 1975. Eileen followed the career trajectory of those first few female pilots, and during her graduate degree, she joined for training. Eileen had done odd jobs to make money for flying lessons and felt it was time she aimed bigger. She soon made a reputation for herself as a woman who could match her male colleagues' physical capabilities. Her superior, impressed with her performance, invited her to apply for the subsequent Undergraduate Pilot Training program in Oklahoma that was being offered to women by the US Air Force. 

In Oklahoma, Eileen's brilliance was noted, and she was made an instructor pilot, a rare feat for a woman in the 70s. She also participated in the 1983 American war with Grenada, rescuing several medical students.  

In 1989, NASA was testing out female astronauts and their capabilities in flying space shuttles. Eileen jumped at the opportunity, submitting her application to a pile of over 2500, and was selected. In February of 1995, Eileen was selected to fly the orbiter Discovery to the Russian space station. In 2005, she would fly Discovery again, this time for safety inspections. She would perform a 360-degree manoeuvre for the orbiter to be examined, becoming the first person ever to achieve that, setting a precedent for the first time, not just as a woman, but as a person. 

Misogyny In The Workplace 

Eileen recalls feeling like she 'was in a fishbowl'. Being in the first batch of women who were allowed to train to be astronauts, there was an incredible amount of pressure and scrutiny that she was under. Often, she and her female colleagues were treated with mistrust by their male counterparts and sometimes their wives. Eileen recalls the wives expressing worries about their husbands going on missions with other women and how this fear manifested in rivalry. She quickly realised that the way to dispel this fear was to befriend the wives and thereby reassure them that female astronauts are not competition. 

Eileen's experiences show the depth of mistrust and misogyny she and her coworkers had to wade through before they could reach their goals. It also shows how, sometimes, women turn to sexist narratives when threatened. 

In her TIMES article, Eileen remembers the moment when she got the phone call informing her that she would be allowed to fly a space shuttle. "I didn't feel like jumping up and down or partying. I felt a huge sense of relief." 

When she finally got her big break, more than a moment to celebrate her own skills and talent, she felt like it was a moment where she was allowed to do what thousands of women weren't. She was going to be one of the firsts, after years of being told 'no' to. She recalls meeting a woman after her first flight and realising how big of a deal her achievement was. It wasn't just about her. 

Eileen's story would be turned into a documentary called 'Spacewoman' and be theatrically released in 2025.