[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S2666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       FIRST WOMAN PILOT IN SPACE

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I 
rise today to recognize the achievements of Air Force Lieutenant 
Colonel Eileen Marie Collins, a native of Elmira, NY. On Friday, 
February 3, Lt. Col. Collins became the first woman to pilot a NASA 
space shuttle. As pilot on the Discovery, Col. Collins' main duty was 
to operate and maintain the engines, battery-powered hydraulic system, 
and electrical system. As we all saw, the Discovery rendezvoused with 
the Russian space station Mir, another historic achievement on this 
flight. The Discovery's 8-day flight is the first of eight missions 
NASA hopes to carry out this year.
  Colonel Collins began taking flying lessons at the age of 19 while 
studying mathematics and science at Corning Community College, in 
Corning, NY. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and 
economics from Syracuse University. After graduating in 1979 from Air 
Force undergraduate pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, 
she became an instructor on T-38 and C-141 aircraft. From 1986 to 1989 
she taught mathematics at the Air Force Academy and continued as a 
flight instructor. It was in 1990, while she was attending the Air 
Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, that 
NASA selected her to be an astronaut.
  Now Colonel Collins joins the ranks of other astronauts from New York 
such as Mario Runco, Jr., and Ronald J. Grabe. I congratulate her for 
this great milestone in her career, and wish her success in all future 
endeavors.


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