Monday night provided a unique opportunity for the Madison community: the chance to hear first-hand accounts of space travel and life in microgravity from one of America’s pioneering astronauts Colonel Eileen Collins.
Collins, who became the first woman to pilot and command a space shuttle mission during her 16 years as an astronaut, spoke in Shannon Hall as part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Collins provided narration for a video from her final space flight while touching on her experience as one of the few female pilots in the U.S. Air Force. She also described the experience of seeing Earth from the space station and discussed the future of NASA and space exploration.
“We need pilots in this country. For some reason young people aren’t selecting aviation and flight,” Collins said. “I don’t know why it’s like that because I love being a pilot, I love the challenge of flying an airplane, I love the missions, I like going places and traveling around the world. It’s really a great career field.”
Collins said she was frequently the center of attention because of her gender. She shared a story about being told “the wives don’t want you here” on her first day at test pilot training. She said NASA, despite employing mostly men, was an ideal place for a qualified and dedicated woman.
“People at NASA don’t really care what you look like, don’t care if you’re a man or a woman,” Collins said. “When you walk into a room, the important thing is what’s the mission, why are you here and what’s your contribution to that mission.”
Collins fielded several questions after her presentation about the future of space travel and the role of private companies like SpaceX in returning to the Moon and eventually traveling to Mars and beyond.
“I admire Elon Musk for the excitement he is generating in the world that NASA hasn’t been able to,” said Collins. “We’re not competing with him and I don’t want it to end up being a competition. We need to do it together, and with other countries.”
