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Eileen Collins (born 1956) at the commander's station on the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93, which launched on July 23, 1999, making Collins the first female commander of a U.S. spacecraft. A now retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force colonel, she is a veteran of four space missions. On her first spaceflight in 1995, STS-63, she became the first female Shuttle pilot and returned to space as a pilot on STS-84. After commanding STS-93, Collins also commanded the STS-114 mission in 2005.Photograph credit: NASA