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Planetary Radio • Jun 03, 2026

Spacewoman with Eileen Collins

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Eileen Collins

Retired NASA Astronaut

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Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society

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Sarah Al-Ahmed

Planetary Radio Host and Producer for The Planetary Society

Colonel Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, and the person NASA trusted to lead the program back into space after the loss of Columbia. But her story is about so much more than the milestones.

In this episode, Sarah Al-Ahmed sits down with Eileen Collins to discuss “Spacewoman,” a new documentary written and directed by Hannah Berryman, based on Collins' book “Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission.” They talk about what drove her to keep pushing forward, the personal cost of pursuing an extraordinary career, and what it means to break barriers, not just for yourself, but for everyone who comes after you.

Then, Bruce Betts, our Chief Scientist, joins us for What's Up to explore what distinguished pilots and commanders from mission specialists in the space shuttle era, and why that distinction was so critical to Eileen's path to the commander's seat.

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Eileen Collins at a parachute ejection briefing
Eileen Collins at a parachute ejection briefing Eileen Collins, then a U.S. Air Force major and NASA pilot astronaut candidate, attends a parachute ejection briefing at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma in July 1990. The session was part of a three-day survival training course — an early step in her journey to become the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission.Image: NASA
Eileen Collins and daughter Bridget
Eileen Collins and daughter Bridget Eileen Collins poses in her space suit with her three-year-old daughter Bridget around 1998, shortly before Collins made history as the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission.Image: Collins Family
Eileen Collins and Vladimir Titov on Space Shuttle Discovery
Eileen Collins and Vladimir Titov on Space Shuttle Discovery Pilot Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Vladimir Titov pose with documents from the Thermal Impulse Printer System aboard Space Shuttle Discovery's middeck during STS-63 in 1995. The mission marked Collins' first spaceflight and included a historic rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir, symbolizing a new era of post-Cold War cooperation in space.Image: NASA
A young Eileen Collins staring into the sky
A young Eileen Collins staring into the sky A young Eileen Collins gazes skyward in her hometown of Elmira, New York, a fitting image for a girl who would go on to become the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission. Collins has credited her childhood fascination with the gliders that soared over Elmira's Harris Hill as an early spark for her dream of flight.Image: Collins Family
Eileen Collins preparing for ISS docking on STS-114
Eileen Collins preparing for ISS docking on STS-114 STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins works beneath the aft flight deck windows aboard Space Shuttle Discovery as she prepares for docking with the International Space Station in 2005. The mission marked NASA's historic return to flight following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, with Collins leading the crew through one of the most scrutinized missions in the program's history.Image: NASA
Sarah Al-Ahmed meets Eileen Collins at Spacewoman screening
Sarah Al-Ahmed meets Eileen Collins at Spacewoman screening Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed meets astronaut Eileen Collins following an early screening of the documentary Spacewoman on May 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. The film chronicles Collins' remarkable journey from a working-class childhood in Elmira, New York, to becoming the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission.Image: The Planetary Society

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