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As a veteran of three space flights, Eileen Collins has logged 537 hours in space. She was a US air force test pilot before being selected to become an astronaut in 1990. In 1995, she became the first woman to pilot a shuttle, a mission aboard Discovery to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir. She was also the first woman to command a shuttle flight, a Columbia mission to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in 1999

Do you have any apprehension about commanding the first flight of the shuttle since Columbia’s accident?

None. The scenario that brought down Columbia will not happen on this flight or any future flight. We have put in place a series of fixes beginning with the new design of the external fuel tank and the removal of large pieces of foam from the front section of the tank. We now have inspection techniques that include launch radar, launch cameras on the ground, launch cameras on airplanes, cameras mounted on the external tank, cameras within the shuttle orbiter and photographs that will be taken from the space station while we rendezvous with it. We will also inspect our wings in orbit with cameras mounted on a robotic arm. If necessary, we will do a space walk to examine the exterior of the shuttle. We will know without question what the exterior of the shuttle looks like, so I am not worried one iota about that.

What if you spot any damage? Can you repair it?

We do not have a way to repair every possible type of damage. We do have a space station safe haven capability. In other words, if the space shuttle is damaged and we cannot return to Earth we will be able to stay at the space station and wait for a rescue shuttle. The space shuttle Atlantis can be ready to launch within two weeks.

What is the space shuttle like to fly? How does it compare with other aircraft you have flown?

I put the space shuttle into three different categories. On launch it is a rocket; in orbit it is a satellite; and on re-entry it is an airplane. We train to fly through those three different phases. The launch is flown by the autopilot all the way up. It would be extremely difficult to manually fly the shuttle in a stick and throttle situation to rendezvous with the International Space Station. However, we do train to fly the launch manually in the event that there is a problem with the autopilot. If the commander flies the ascent (launch), you have to “gimbal” those huge main engines at the tail end of the space shuttle: they can move from right to left and up and down. This is how you steer the space shuttle on ascent.

Once in orbit, the pilot fires small thruster jets from a stick-like handle next to their seat. There are 44 of these thrusters that make the shuttle roll, pitch or yaw in any direction. This phase is like flying a satellite. On re-entry, the same stick is used to control the elevons, the small flaps on the shuttle’s wings and tail section.

When the shuttle is coming back through the atmosphere how does its flight handling compare with other aircraft you have flown?

For the pitch axis, which points the nose up and down, it flies like an F-16 fighter jet. In the roll axis, it flies like a C-141 transport aircraft. So in essence it flies like two different aircraft depending on which axis you are using.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a pilot?

I knew I loved aviation and flying when my father used to take our family to the local airport to watch airplanes take off and land. We were one of those old-fashioned families that would get a few soft drinks, go to the airport and sit up on the hood of our family car watching airplanes take off and land. We also had a glider field where we lived in Elmira, New York state, where we would watch the gliders soaring. It was called the Harris Hill Soaring field and it houses the National Soaring Museum.

I didn’t actually consider being a pilot myself until high school, where I read about pilots who flew in the Vietnam war, were shot down and kept as POWs, and then somehow escaped. I know it sounds really corny – watching planes take off and land at a local airport and reading books – but it’s the truth.

In Elmira, you grew up in humble surroundings. How would you say that shaped your career?

First of all I would have to say it was my parents that shaped my career. They always told us they were not perfect parents and that they sometimes made mistakes, but they loved us. That is all kids really need to know. Secondly my parents sent me to a Catholic school that was really strict, but in a good way. I had to work for everything I wanted except food and clothing, which my parents provided. I learned the value of money and its relationship to hard work.

While I attended the first two years of a private Catholic school, I cleaned classrooms everyday to pay for my tuition. I did volunteer work at age 15 and then finally got paid work at age 16, working jobs like miniature golf courses, a catalogue showroom, pizzerias, doughnut shops, and on weekends I worked at my church. Every time I made a little bit of money I would save it and later spend some of it on flying lessons.

Did you have any fears the first time you flew?

No fear. I learned to fly in a Cessna 150 and my instructor was a former Phantom F-4 pilot who flew in Vietnam. He had high expectations but was a wonderful inspiration for me because he treated me like a contemporary, even though I was just learning. I would say I had more of a focused “I want to do this right” attitude. I never fear for my safety when flying because if you know the limits of the airplane and you stay within those limits, then flying is a very safe thing to do. So I see flying as more of a task or challenge and I love a challenge.

Did flying come naturally for you?

I remember that while I was in school I tried to be good at sports, but I was never able to cut it for some reason. I was always the last one picked for a team, or next to last. However, I found out I was good at flying. That was something I could do and do well. I did my first solo after only 8 hours of practice.

Do you “push the envelope” when you fly?

I am very respectful of the limits of the airplane. I never push the weather limitations; I don’t push the limits of the airplane by trying to make the airplane do something it wasn’t designed to do. I also do not push my own personal limits. We have so much control over our own safety when we fly that I have a lot of confidence when I fly. I have never really been concerned about safety. But I will tell you: I don’t skydive; I don’t bungee jump; I don’t go on roller coasters, in fact roller coasters scare me to death. I’m not that kind of risk taker.

“I don’t skydive; I don’t bungee jump; I don’t go on roller coasters, they scare me to death. I’m not that kind of risk taker”

During the time you spent as a test pilot what were some of your favourite aircraft to fly?

The A-7 single-engine attack aircraft is a good one. The A-7 handles really well although it is an old aircraft. I don’t think they are flown any more. When I was in test pilot school I liked the A-7 because it was so responsive and easy to fly and land. However, I have to say the NASA T-38 supersonic jet is my favourite airplane and is the aircraft I am flying right now.

Did you ever fly an airplane you did not like?

Taxiing a tail dragger is not the most fun thing in the world.

Tail dragger?

These are airplanes with tailwheels. They are not built any more but were common in the 1930s and 40s. They are very challenging to land. An example is the Cessna 140, which I used to fly. It was built in 1945 and was one of the first airplanes I learned to land. Landing an airplane with a tailwheel is more difficult than landing an airplane with a nosewheel. Tailwheels make it very difficult to land in a crosswind.

Did you ever have any risky moments while flying?

Yes. I almost had a mid-air collision with another T-38 back in 1989 or 1990. It was when I was a new instructor and I had a student with me. He didn’t do anything wrong, but we were flying in formation and the two airplanes got too close to each other and almost hit. We flew 3-feet wing-tip separation while in formation. You have to be very disciplined and trusting of the person in the other airplane. In fact you cannot take your eyes off the other airplane because the two airplanes could end up hitting one another. True, we do have an ejector seat, but no one wants to use it. If you keep yourself safe you won’t have to use it.

Another close call happened to me in 1987 when I was flying in a small Cessna 152. We took off thinking it was going to be good weather and it turned bad very quickly. It was so bad that it could have ended in disaster, but the other pilot and I made the decision to turn around and land where we took off and cancel our mission. I honestly think that decision probably saved our lives.

How did it feel when you found out you had been selected by NASA?

I still remember the day in January 1990 when I got that phone call. When I hung up the telephone I said to myself, “Wow, I am an astronaut!” You want to have this huge celebration but you don’t begin your actual training until six months later.

Does NASA only accept test pilots from the military to fly the space shuttle?

Technically if you have at least 1000 hours of high-performance jet aircraft flying time under your belt, you can apply to be a shuttle pilot. Having said that, every space shuttle pilot thus far has been a military test pilot. I think you cannot be competitive unless you are a test pilot. Many shuttle pilots fly their first missions designated as a Mission Specialist 2. They will sit in one of the flight-deck seats and perform duties as a flight engineer. This gives a future shuttle pilot a head start. From my class of 106 applicants, seven were chosen to be pilots and 16 were chosen as mission specialists. There is only one pilot seat open for every three to five seats for mission specialists.

What did you think of the Top Gun movie? Did it have any real connection to the kinds of things you were doing and the life you lead as a test pilot?

It has been a long time since I have seen Top Gun. There was a lot of sensationalism in the movie. As I recall, though, one of the pilots in the movie died and I have had pilots in my squadron die. We lost two people when I was stationed out at Vance Air Force Base – one student and one instructor who died in two separate crashes. We also had four people eject from aircraft but live to talk about it. The scene in the Top Gun movie where the pilot died was realistic. A lot of the dialogue in the movie was just Hollywood, but people do die flying airplanes.