1 00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: one oh six point seven light FM. 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Get Connected. It is Women's 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 2: History Month. I love that we have this topic. Space 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 2: Woman a documentary about Eileen Collins, the first woman to 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 2: pilot and command a spacecraft. The film, directed by Hannah Berryman, 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: follows Eileen Collins's journey from her working class beginnings in Elmira, 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 2: New York, to test pilot to breaking glass ceilings at NASA, 10 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 2: piloting and commanding four Space Shuttle missions, and navigating the 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 2: pressures for her family. Eileen Collins the pleasure to speak 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 2: with you. 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 3: Yes, thanks for having me and we're looking forward to 14 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 3: our chat. 15 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,160 Speaker 2: Space Woman is in select theaters nationwide, including the Quad 16 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 2: Cinema in the Village Now where Eileen has a Q 17 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 2: and A today at two pm Sunday, March twenty second, 18 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 2: with filmmaker Hannah Berryman. Congratulations on the film. I had 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 2: the chance to watch it, which is totally in grossing, 20 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: and one of the things that stuck out for me 21 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,119 Speaker 2: is your determination and just the idea that you could 22 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 2: even in Elmira, New York. You know, you came from 23 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: this very humble start and you got the bug somewhere 24 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 2: to become a pilot. You wanted to be Captain Kirk. 25 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 2: What intrigued you about flying and space? 26 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, well thanks for bringing that up. You know, I 27 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 3: that's a good question, because I'm not really sure why 28 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 3: I locked onto flying in space so much as a kid. 29 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 3: I would have to credit it to the books that 30 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 3: I read. And I was a big reader of books 31 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 3: when I was young, and at some point along the 32 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 3: way in the library, I found the section on pilots, 33 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 3: and so I read about, you know, the women pilots 34 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 3: that flew in World War Two. I read about military pilots, 35 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 3: and then you know people that explored Africa and South 36 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 3: America in airplanes, and I say, man, that's what I 37 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 3: want to do. And I was also inspired by the 38 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 3: early days of the space program. I mean, was that 39 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 3: really wasn't a books that was in magazines, and so 40 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 3: I read magazines on the Gemini astronauts and the Apollo astronauts, 41 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 3: and you know, I want to be just like them. 42 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 3: That's what I decided I wanted to do. Now, back 43 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 3: in those days, there were no women astronauts, and there 44 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 3: were very few women pilots. That was almost unheard of. 45 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 3: But I still wanted to do that. And as the 46 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,679 Speaker 3: years went by. In fact, it was nineteen seventy six 47 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 3: when the Air Force started taking women into military flight 48 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 3: training and I was in college and I thought, you know, 49 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 3: this is something I can actually really do. And so 50 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 3: my timing was good also. But one thing that comes 51 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 3: out in the film is you can come from a 52 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 3: small town or you can come from a I want 53 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 3: to say, low economic, low income background. My parents didn't 54 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 3: have an easy time of it, but they did their 55 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 3: best to feed us and you know, make sure we 56 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 3: got to school. But you can still go on and 57 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 3: fulfill your dream. Even though you have problems and you 58 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 3: have you know, barriers, you have setbacks, you make mistakes, 59 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 3: you can still go on to fulfill your dream. And 60 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 3: I think the film team Keith Hablind and Hannah Berryman 61 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 3: that made the film, they brought that out in the 62 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 3: story and I was really impressed with what they did. 63 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 3: Everything in the film is true. I mean, it was 64 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 3: not embellished to make it something that didn't happen. Everything 65 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 3: that happened in the film is true. In that sense, 66 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 3: it is a true documentary, but it's almost like a 67 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 3: story documentary versus just telling what happened. We bring in 68 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 3: the story of you know, I Lean's family, I Lean's crew, 69 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 3: the flight directors, the mission managers, and how we all 70 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 3: came together a very difficult period of time in the 71 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 3: Space Shuttle program. 72 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 2: You had something going for you. I don't know if 73 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: it was innate or you built yourself up, but as 74 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 2: a woman in a very masculine world, especially at the beginning, 75 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 2: because you're entering pilot training at a time when they 76 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: were trying to decide if women could fly. If people 77 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 2: ever made you feel like you didn't belong, how did 78 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 2: you deal with that? 79 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 3: Well? Yeah, so I was in the first class of 80 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 3: women to go through pilot training at my base in 81 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,119 Speaker 3: the Air Force. It was Van's Air Force Base in Oklahoma. 82 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 3: They have been training pilots since World War Two, nineteen 83 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 3: forty four, I think, and here it is nineteen seventy 84 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 3: eight and the first four women come in. There were 85 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 3: four of us women, the first in a base with 86 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 3: over five hundred pilots. So a little bit of that 87 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 3: story comes out in the film. But you know, I 88 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 3: just wanted to be a pilot. I was so happy 89 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 3: that I had the opportunity to be in this test program. 90 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 3: You know, can women fly military aircraft? I studied so hard. 91 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 3: I did something called chair flying, where I just would 92 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 3: imagine myself going through the mission, the checklist, the taxi out, 93 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 3: the radio calls that take off, all the acrobatics. I 94 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 3: cheerfly through all these before I did them in the airplane. 95 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 3: And you know, I mean it was hard, but I 96 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 3: wanted to be the best I could be, and so 97 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 3: I focused. To answer your question, I focused on the mission. 98 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 3: My mission for myself was to be the best pilot 99 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 3: I could be. Yes, there were people there that didn't 100 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 3: want the women, but it was a minority. I would say. 101 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 3: The bosses welcomed us. They were very supportive our classmates 102 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: that you know, the men were very supportive of us. 103 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 3: We worked together as a team. The resistance kind of 104 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 3: came from the mid level management people, and I think 105 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 3: they finally came around. Most of them saw that the 106 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 3: women were there. No, we weren't there looking for a husband. 107 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 3: They all thought, oh, they're just here. No, we're not 108 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 3: looking for a husband. We're here because we want to 109 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 3: be pilots, and they saw that we were serious, we 110 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 3: wanted to be part of the team. We helped each 111 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 3: other out, so I think eventually people came around. You know, 112 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 3: you still had a few holdouts that didn't want the 113 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 3: women there, but you know that I'm not going to 114 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 3: let that bother me, because I think the vast, vast 115 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 3: majority of us were team members and we you know, 116 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 3: we're focused on the mission. So I just kept pressing on. 117 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 3: And I was so happy that the Air Force was 118 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 3: letting me fly their hot jets and to go fast 119 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 3: and do acrobatics that every day was like Disneyland for me. 120 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 3: So I just kept going. It was fun. 121 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 2: The documentary Spacewoman is based on Eileen collins book Through 122 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 2: the Glass Ceiling to the Stars. Retired Air Force Colonel 123 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 2: Eileen Collins is the first woman to pilot and command 124 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 2: a spacecraft as an astronaut with NASA from nineteen ninety 125 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 2: until her retirement in two thousand and six. She is 126 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 2: in a talkback today when they show the film space 127 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 2: Woman at the Quad Cinema. This is Sunday, March twenty second, 128 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 2: at two pm with the director of the film, Hannah Berryman. 129 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 2: You're listening to get connected on one oh six point 130 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 2: seven light FM. I'mina del Rio. So you were named 131 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 2: commander in nineteen ninety nine. What does it mean to 132 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 2: be a commander? And it was something you had been 133 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 2: aiming for your entire career? Remember that, what is that 134 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 2: feeling like? What was that feeling like getting the assignment? 135 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I was very happy. So it 136 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 3: was something that I had wanted to do for a 137 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 3: very long time, and not just an opportunity to fly 138 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 3: the Space Shuttle. Of course, the commanders fly, we get 139 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 3: to land the Space Shuttle, but also to lead a 140 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 3: team of people that have a common mission. So my 141 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 3: first command in nineteen ninety nine was to launch the 142 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 3: Chandra X ray Observatory, which is this great, big telescope 143 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 3: that searches around space looking for targets to help us 144 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 3: determine like what is this universe that we live in, 145 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 3: you know, and how do we fit into the universe? 146 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 3: And so we're answering scientific questions right now. And so 147 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 3: I've always been interested in astronomy, so I was able 148 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 3: to take that portion of the mission along with my 149 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 3: dream of you know, being commander of a spacecraft someday 150 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 3: you know, I always wanted to be Captain Kirk, as 151 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 3: I say in the film, an opportunity to command a 152 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 3: mission in space. So I took that on with I 153 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 3: would say a lot of confidence because I was very 154 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 3: well prepared. All of my years of military training, being 155 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 3: a test pilot and then eventually two flights is a 156 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 3: pilot in the Space Shuttle program prepared me very well, 157 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 3: and I wanted to make sure that we had the 158 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,239 Speaker 3: most successful mission. And so I would say staying focused 159 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 3: on that mission, not being distracted too much by the 160 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 3: fact that I was the first woman commander, because I 161 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 3: thought that, you know, what am I going to do 162 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 3: with that? No, I'm going to be the best commander 163 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 3: I can be, and when the mission's over, we can 164 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 3: talk about what it was like to be the first woman. 165 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 3: So I kind of took a little bit of that 166 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 3: mental load and pressure off of myself and just staying 167 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 3: focused on safe, successful mission. And so that's the way 168 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 3: I handled that, and that mission, by the way, was 169 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 3: tremendously successful, and I was able to go on and 170 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 3: fly a second mission is Commander. 171 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 2: There's also an interesting anecdote though, from that mission from 172 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 2: Katie Coleman. She was a mission specialist with you on 173 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 2: that flight in nineteen ninety nine, and the quote was 174 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 2: you told her, I'm hearing from people that you don't 175 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 2: do your job well, which is not what i'm seeing, 176 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 2: but that's what I'm hearing. So I'm recommending you change 177 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 2: the way you express to people that you know what 178 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 2: you're doing. What were you saying to her? 179 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, So that's right. That's one of the jobs as commander. 180 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 3: And I'm not going to single out Katie. I've had 181 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 3: to talk with many people that have worked for me 182 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 3: where I see that, you know, maybe they're they can 183 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 3: do their job. I want to say as like I said, 184 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 3: Katie was doing her job, but I think the way 185 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 3: it was coming out on the team was some of 186 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 3: the feedback I was getting from other people that I 187 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 3: did personally did not see. But because I was getting feedback, 188 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 3: it's my responsibility as a commander to give that feedback 189 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 3: to the person that needs it. So not just for Katie, 190 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 3: but for the other crew members I've worked with. I 191 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,959 Speaker 3: think I would call that mentoring or coaching, and is 192 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 3: a boss that we are responsible to do that. You 193 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 3: don't want to wait until somebody actually has problems you know, 194 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 3: Katie was a very top performer, and I want to 195 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 3: take my top performers and make them better or maybe 196 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 3: prevent them from having maybe an impression that isn't really accurate. 197 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 3: So intervene as soon as possible. I think that's what 198 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 3: good leaders do, and make sure that not only I 199 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 3: talk to my crew members, but that they feel confident 200 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 3: to come and talk to me and not be intimidated 201 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 3: by me, but being willing to come and say, hey, 202 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 3: you know, how do you think this is going? And 203 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 3: so I think I would call that mentoring. So I 204 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 3: think that came out pretty well in the film, and 205 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 3: I don't want to make it look like Katie was 206 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 3: having problems in training, because she certainly wasn't. 207 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 2: Your life has included a lot of firsts. How do 208 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 2: you feel about being the first? 209 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 3: Well, I would say being the first is something that 210 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 3: I can look back on after the mission has already happened. 211 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 3: I felt it was an honor to be the first. 212 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 3: I mean it was a huge responsibility, but really an honor. 213 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 3: I know that because of that, I am a role model, 214 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 3: whether I want to be or not, So I take 215 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 3: that very seriously. I want to be the kind of 216 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 3: person that follows the rules. I don't like make up 217 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 3: my own rules and you know, go rogue along the way, 218 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 3: which some people do. I think it's important that the 219 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 3: rules are there to keep us safe and to follow 220 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 3: the rules into times when we have to break the rules, 221 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 3: we have a reason for it, and then we report 222 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 3: it to our boss after it's happened. So I tried 223 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 3: to I want to say, be a good role model 224 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 3: to the other pilots that I work with, and then 225 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,319 Speaker 3: eventually be a good role model to young people. You 226 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 3: know we say girls because I was the first woman 227 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 3: pilot and commander, but also be a good role model 228 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 3: to the boys and the young men out there that 229 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 3: you know, some of them weren't wondering, like what is 230 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 3: it like to have a woman boss. I think that's 231 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 3: becoming less and less common today that because we had, 232 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 3: you know, to worry about a woman boss, because we 233 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 3: have so many today we didn't back in the old days. 234 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 3: But to make sure that the young men and the 235 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 3: men that worked for me were willing to come up 236 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 3: to me and talk to me about the mission and 237 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 3: what's going well, what's not going well, and that we 238 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 3: keep that conversation open and I didn't ever want to 239 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 3: belittle anyone or make someone feel like they weren't a 240 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 3: valuable member of the team. It's important that I listened 241 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 3: to everyone, so I would say that's how I that's 242 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 3: how I handled it, and to try to make sure 243 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 3: that I was a good role model. So the women 244 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 3: that follow me as space commanders, you know, have an 245 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 3: expectation of, you know, how they're going to be able 246 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 3: to handle themselves in their job. 247 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 2: This film also is very revealing about your family. You 248 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 2: had this support of your husband, Pat, he's also a pilot, 249 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 2: he was an adult. And then you have your daughter, 250 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 2: right who had some She talks about a low level 251 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 2: of constant fear during your missions when she was a child. 252 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 2: All these years later, how does that strike you to 253 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 2: see their different reactions. Even your husband Pat, you know, 254 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 2: would exhale when you would land safely to look at 255 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 2: you know, what they were able to support you with 256 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,599 Speaker 2: and also how that impacted them. 257 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was pretty obvious to everyone that 258 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 3: flying in space has a good amount of risk associated 259 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 3: with it because we're doing these things really for the 260 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 3: first time, and the Space Shuttle was experimental through you know, 261 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 3: even though we flew it for thirty years, one hundred 262 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 3: and thirty five missions. It was still an experimental spacecraft. 263 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 3: We had two accidents. In my case, my last flight 264 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 3: was the first flight after the Columbia accident. So our 265 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 3: kids were worried, our spouses were worried. But we're going 266 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 3: to fly that mission. And we needed to get space 267 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 3: exploration back in the forefront, and we needed to show 268 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 3: to the world that, yes, we are going to keep 269 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 3: this mission going. We're not going to shy away. We're 270 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 3: not going to let fear over rule us. We're going 271 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 3: to make it as safe as we possibly can, and 272 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:04,959 Speaker 3: we're going to go on and explore. And that was 273 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 3: the message that I tried to pass on to my daughter. 274 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 3: She was only seven when the accident happened, so she 275 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 3: you know, she understood, She certainly did, but I'm not 276 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 3: sure she understood the exploration part as much. So I 277 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 3: told her, mom's going to be safe. I'm not going 278 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 3: to go fly a mission if I think there's going 279 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 3: to be an accident. I'm going to fix the problems 280 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 3: first and then we go fly. And the things I 281 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 3: did to the family support plan to make sure that 282 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 3: our families were involved in our training and they knew 283 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 3: each other. You know, they're still going to worry, so 284 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 3: we're just going to go fly. It was hard on 285 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 3: my daughter. I realized that because when I was a kid, 286 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 3: I worried what would happen if my mom died? You know, 287 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 3: what would happen to us kids? Where would we go? 288 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 3: I think that did worry me. But I managed to 289 00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 3: get through that period in my life and come out strong, 290 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 3: younger on the other end, and so my daughter and 291 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 3: I ended up having you know you'll see in the film. 292 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 3: I think it really strengthened our relationship in the long run, 293 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 3: because our relationship was tested. We went through that hard time, 294 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 3: and now she's she's doing really well in her career 295 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 3: and I still keep in touch with her. So I 296 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 3: think there's a happy ending to what looked like maybe 297 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 3: it was a difficult period of time. 298 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 2: The documentary Spacewoman, about Eileen Collins, the first woman to 299 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 2: pilot and command a spacecraft, is in theaters now. Eileen Collins, 300 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 2: such a pleasure to meet with you, and thank you 301 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 2: for being on Get Connected. 302 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 3: Yes, thanks for the interview. I enjoy talking with you. 303 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: This has been Get Connected with Nina del Rio on 304 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: one oho six point seven light Fm. The views and 305 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views 306 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: of the station. If you missed any part of our 307 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: show or want to share it, visit our website. We're 308 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: downloads and podcasts at one oh six to seven lightfm 309 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks for listening.