No stranger to the skies and outer space, Colonel Eileen Collins graduated in 1979 from Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training
at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, where she was a T-38 instructor pilot until
1982. From 1983 to 1985, she was a C-141 aircraft commander and
instructor pilot at Travis AFB, California. She spent the following
year as a student with the Air Force Institute of Technology. From 1986
to 1989, she was assigned to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado,
where she was an assistant professor in mathematics and a T-41
instructor pilot. She was selected for the astronaut program while
attending the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California,
from which she graduated in 1990.
She has logged over 5,000 hours in 30 different types of aircraft.
NASA EXPERIENCE:
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Collins became an astronaut in July
1991. Initially assigned to Orbiter engineering support, she has also
served on the astronaut support team responsible for Orbiter prelaunch
checkout, final launch configuration, crew ingress/egress,
landing/recovery, worked in Mission Control as a spacecraft
communicator (CAPCOM) for numerous shuttle missions, and served as the
Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems Branch Chief. A veteran of two
space flights, Collins has logged over 419 hours in space. She served
as pilot on STS-63 (February 2-11, 1995) and STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997).
Collins is the first woman assigned as a Space Shuttle Commander. She
will command the crew of STS-93 on a 5-day mission aboard Space Shuttle
Columbia. STS-93 will highlight the deployment of the Advanced X-ray
Astrophysics Facility Imaging System (AXAF). Designed to conduct
comprehensive studies of the universe, AXAF will enable scientists to
study exotic phenomena such as exploding stars, quasars, and black
holes. STS-93 is scheduled for launch in July 1999.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS-63 (February 2-11, 1995) was the first flight of the new joint
Russian-American Space Program. Mission highlights included the
rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir, operation of Spacehab,
the deployment and retrieval of an astronomy satellite, and a space
walk. Collins' first mission was accomplished in 129 orbits, traveling
over 2.9 million miles in 198 hours, 29 minutes. She was the first
woman pilot of a Space Shuttle.
STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997) was NASA's sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous
and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. During the flight, the
crew conducted a number of secondary experiments and transferred nearly
4 tons of supplies and experiment equipment between Atlantis and the
Mir station. In completing this 9-day mission, she traveled 3.8 million
miles in 145 orbits of the Earth logging a total of 221 hours and 20
minutes in space.
Lt Colonel Catherine Coleman was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force in 1983
and began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts. Her
research focused on polymer synthesis using the olefin metathesis
reaction, and polymer surface modification. In 1988, Coleman entered
active duty and was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. As a
research chemist at the Materials Directorate of the Wright Laboratory,
she synthesized model compounds to investigate the use of organic
polymers for third-order nonlinear optical applications such as
advanced computers and data storage. Coleman also acted as a surface
analysis consultant for the Long Duration Exposure Facility (launched
from STS 41-C in 1984 and retrieved during STS-32 in 1990). In addition
to assigned duties, Coleman was a volunteer test subject for the
centrifuge program at the Crew Systems Directorate of the Armstrong
Aeromedical Laboratory. She set several endurance and tolerance records
during her participation in physiological and new equipment studies.
NASA EXPERIENCE:
Coleman was selected by NASA in March 1992 and reported to the Johnson
Space Center in August 1992. Initially assigned to the Astronaut Office
Mission Support Branch and detailed to flight software verification in
the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, Coleman subsequently
served as the special assistant to the Center Director, Johnson Space
Center. She served in the Astronaut Office Payloads and Habitability
Branch, working with experiment designers to insure that payloads can
be operated successfully in the microgravity environment of low earth
orbit. As the lead astronaut for long term space flight habitability
issues, she led the effort to label the Russian segments of the
International Space Station in English and also tracked issues such as
accoustics and living accommodations aboard the station. She was a
mission specialist on STS-73, logging over 381 hours in space, and also
served as a backup mission specialist for an injured crew member on
STS-83. Coleman is presently assigned to STS-93, a 5-day mission aboard
Space Shuttle Columbia to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Designed to conduct comprehensive studies of the universe, the
telescope will enable scientists to study exotic phenomena such as
exploding stars, quasars, and black holes. Coleman is the lead mission
specialist for the Chandra deploy on STS-93, which is scheduled for
launch in July 1999.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS-73 Columbia (October 20 to November 5, 1995), was the second United
States Microgravity Laboratory mission. The mission focused on
materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, the physics of
fluids, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized
Spacelab module. In completing her first space flight, Coleman orbited
the Earth 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total
of 15 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds in space.
