This great event had been planned to take off on the very day of the anniversary of the first step on the moon. The crew was strapped in and ready to go. The final countdown ticked down the seconds: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6-"Cutoff!" And emergency halt was given as an indicator detected too much hydrogen at the base. The crew scrambled to shut off equipment and get out of the rocket filled with more than 500,000 gallons fuel. Then a few days later, weather halted the launch. They delays were a huge disappointment for all involved. But it does show that safety measures are in place.

Then early Friday morning, the crew readied themselves for a third attempt. If this one failed, the mission would be delayed for at least another month. Excitement grew as the launch countdown passed the earlier stopping point, engines fired, and the heaviest payload in history lifted off toward space. Then a scary call - trouble! Collins indicated they had a fuel cell problem. Tense seconds passed as NASA examined the situation. Those that watched held their breath and tried not to remember events like the Challenger.

It turned out that an electrical problem on Columbia caused a short circuit and a loss of a controller on two of the three engines. During the stress filled launch, and handling of the crisis, Lt. Col. Eileen Collins proved she's got 'the right stuff.'

A few hours after reaching orbit, Col. Collins and her crew successfully deployed the $1.5 billion, 50,000 pound, Chandra X-ray Observatory. A 'great leap' for astronomy - and for women. As Eileen broke thought earth's ceiling of gravity, she shattered her profession's glass ceiling as well.

Hillary Clinton said that Eileen was picked for this historic event because of her skill and determination to be not the best woman for the job but simply the best person ... she made it because she ignored those who said it wasn't cool or feminine to study math and science.

In high school Eileen started reading about famous pilots, from Amelia Earhart to the women in the Airforce Service. "Their stores inspired me. I admired the courage of these women to go and fly into dangerous situations!"

Those that know Eileen are not surprised she was selected to lead the historic mission. She always set high goals and worked toward achieving them.

Since she was a child, Eileen wanted to learn to fly. When she was 16 she got a job to start saving money for flying lessons. It took her three years to save enough, but at 19 she reached her goal to learn to fly and soon she earned a pilot's license. Based on her good grades and flying experience, she became one of the first women to go straight from college into Air Force pilot training. While there, Eileen set her goals on becoming an astronaut.

In July 1991, Eileen Collins became an astronaut.

At 38, Lt. Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle. That mission included the rendezvous with the Russian space station, Mir, operation of Spacehab, the deployment and retrieval of an astronomy satellite, and a space walk.

Now at 42, Lt. Col. Collins is leading a 5-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. The payload, the Chandra telescope, is designed to conduct comprehensive studies of the universe. It will enable scientists to study exotic phenomena such as exploding stars, quasars, and black holes.

"When I was a child, I dreamed about space," says Eileen Collins. "I admired pilots, astronauts, and I've admired explorers of all kinds. It was only a dream that I would someday be one of them. It is my hope that all children, boys and girls, will see this mission and be inspired to reach for their dreams, because dreams do come true!"

Eileen is not only an astronaut but also a wife and the mother of a young daughter, Bridget who wants to follow her mother's example and be an astronaut when she grows up. Who knows, maybe Bridget will lead the first 'manned' mission to Mars - Why Not!

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