Portrait of Eileen Collins
NASA
Eileen Collins -- First Female Shuttle Commander
News story originally written on March 11, 1998
Astronaut Eileen Collins will become the first female shuttle commander in December 1998. She will command the STS-93 crew aboard the shuttle Columbia. First Lady Hillary Clinton announced this 'space first' just last week.
Collins is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. For more background information, click here.
The others on the STS-93 crew are Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby (Cmdr.,USN) and Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley, Ph.D., and Catherine G. "Cady" Coleman, Ph.D (Major, USAF). Astronaut Michel Tognini (Col., French Air Force) was named to the crew on November 12.
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