Portrait of Major Eileen Collins, USAF (), the first woman to qualify as a pilot for the US Space Shuttle programme. Collins was born in Elmira,

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Portrait of Major Eileen Collins, USAF (), the first woman to qualify as a pilot for the US Space Shuttle programme. Collins was born in Elmira, New York, and attended a local school. She has degrees in mathematics and economics, an MSc in Operational Research and an MA in Space Systems Management. Collins graduated as a US Air Force pilot in 1979, becoming an instructor and later an operational pilot on C-141 transport aircraft. She graduated as a test pilot in 1990 and was selected for astronaut training, completing the course in July 1991. Collins' first flight assignment is on Mission STS-65, due to fly in June 1994.

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Size: 3592px × 5355px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., astronaut, collins, eileen, manned, pilot, plt, shuttle, space, spaceflight, woman