Talk:Eileen Collins

Early history

I was mildly puzzled to read the following sentence:

She was born in Elmira, New York and says she wanted to fly the shuttle since she was a little girl.

As the shuttle program wasn't announced until Collins was 15, I found the phrase "little girl" odd. According to Starchild, she expressed an early interest in being a pilot, which made more sense. Pardon my smugness in this matter, but I wanted to share. -- Ventura 00:49, 2005 Mar 3 (UTC)

Some article with more details

Some quotes

But the other part is there. It's in the windblown, jut-jawed portrait that celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz made of her in 1999. And in the shrug she gave the Associated Press after a fuel leak almost forced her to make an emergency shuttle landing in Africa: "I knew we had an out somewhere." And it's in the headline that the magazine Irish America used for its "Irish of the Century" feature: "Eileen Collins: Rocket Woman."

But she yields little information about her children, Bridget, 9, and Luke, 4, or her husband, Pat Youngs, a former Air Force pilot now flying for Delta Air Lines. Her telephone numbers -- and Youngs's -- are unlisted. She does not appear to like being called Mom by adults. She guards her privacy like a celebrity, because that's what she is.

This was not always apparent. Eileen Marie Collins was born in Elmira on Nov. 19, 1956, the second of four children to James Collins, a surveyor and postal worker, and his wife, Rose Marie. Her parents split up when she was 9, and she lived in public housing, graduating from Elmira Free Academy in 1974.

She cemented her mystique aboard Columbia as shuttle commander on July 23, 1999, when two of the main engine computers short-circuited on launch. Backups kicked in, but a second breakdown -- a leak of liquid hydrogen -- threatened to leave Columbia out of gas and not yet in orbit. An emergency landing loomed. [1] gathima 4 July 2005 16:29 (UTC)

Her Academic Degrees

The article says "she was an assistant professor of mathematics", but there is no mention that she earned a P.HD. just "masters degree". So, how can it be?

You don't necessarily have to have a Ph.D. to be an instructor, particularly an assistant professor. There are numerous sources that state that she was an assistant math professor at the USAF Academy, including NASA: [2] and the Air Force [3]. · Katefan0^(scribble) 16:53, August 11, 2005 (UTC)

Pregnancy

I can't find a source for "[allegations that Collins was pregnant during a mission, exact quote removed Thayvian 05:11, 8 February 2007 (UTC)]" in the article or the References section. A quick Google didn't turn up anything except people citing this article as support for her being pregnant during a mission, or even any other source for the time elapsed between Collins' return and her daughter's birth and resulting speculation. Marking the "Personal life" section unreferenced. Thayvian 04:44, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

FWIW, here's the diff of it being introduced: [4] Thayvian 04:47, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

In fact, the whole thing looks pretty dubious. If [5] is really from 1999, then her daughter was already three years old in early or mid 1999, making her birthday either mid to late 1995 or early 1996. That makes it somewhat unlikely that she was pregnant with her daughter during any mission, although I suppose STS-63 is just possible. But the original diff has different (and uncited) dates entirely. Thayvian 04:54, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

hello, go colts and louisville cardinals:)64.253.114.85 (talk) 00:46, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Trying to find better reference but all I've found so far is People Magazine -> http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20125259,00.html - Ageekgal (talk) 20:59, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Advisory Council

from NASA News (hqnews)(mediaservices.nasa.gov)

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006

NASA Announces New Advisory Council Members

Griffin announced Collins, as one of 9 members, for the Space Operations Committee.

First public meeting on October 12, 2006, at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Second was only February 2010.

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/nac/home/index.html

With best wishes for Mr. Collins. --rosetta —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.49.137.69 (talk) 06:14, 14 May 2010 (UTC)