1956-

American pilot and astronaut who accomplished many significant firsts for women involved in the space race. A colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Collins was the first female pilot selected by NASA (1990), the first female Space Shuttle pilot on STS-63 (1995), the pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight to dock with the Russian Mir space station on STS-84 (1997), as well as the first female Space Shuttle commander on STS-93 (1999).