Eileen Collins is a retired NASA astronaut and the first woman to command a space shuttle mission. She was born on November 19, 1956, in Elmira, New York. Collins earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Operations Research. Before joining NASA, she served as a U.S. Air Force pilot and instructor. Collins flew on two space shuttle missions: STS-63 in 1995 and STS-84 in 1997. She made history in 1999 when she commanded the STS-93 mission, which deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Throughout her career, Collins has received numerous awards for her contributions to space exploration.