Captain Eileen Collins: The First Woman To Command The Space Shuttle

Talk Is Jericho

Chris Jericho

Tv & Film, Sports, Wrestling

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Captain Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle, and she’s sharing what it really takes to become an astronaut and fly in space. She talks about her journey from Air Force pilot to NASA, the intense training process, and what stood out in her astronaut application. Eileen breaks down her first mission aboard Discovery, flying with a Russian cosmonaut and rendezvousing with the Mir space station, and explains what life is actually like in space – how astronauts eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom in zero gravity, plus the physical effects on the body and why salty food beats sugar. She also shares stories about in-flight dangers, space debris, and commanding NASA’s Return To Flight mission after the Columbia disaster. And hear her thoughts on future space travel, missions to the Moon and Mars, whether humans will live off Earth, and the truth about aliens. And she talks about her new documentary, Spacewoman. See Spacewoman in theaters this Friday, March 20th! https://www.eileencollins.com/ Thank you for supporting our sponsors! Tellus: Learn more at http://tellusapp.com or search Tellus in the Apple App Store or Android Store. Talk Is Jericho is available on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/ChrisJerichoFozzy Don’t forget to Like, Subscribe, and hit the 🔔 to stay updated on new episodes! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Talk is Jericho, baby.
0:05.4	Talk is Jericho.
0:08.5	Talk is Jericho, Mama, talk is me.
0:13.4	All right.
0:13.8	Well, thanks for your interest in the space program.
0:17.2	Absolutely.
0:17.8	We're here with Eileen Collins, who is a pioneer in space exploration,
0:22.2	being the first woman to ever pilot a space shuttle, a spacecraft.
0:27.0	Unbelievable accomplishment and so much to discuss.
0:30.2	But let's jump right in with Space Woman, which is the new documentary based on your
0:34.3	experiences in your career.
0:35.8	How does it feel to have a documentary made about you?
0:39.1	Well, it's a little bit intimidating.
0:41.2	I'll admit that right up front.
0:43.2	I initially did not want to do the documentary.
0:46.5	I had to get permission from my family because, you know,
0:48.8	they can get kind of personal, you know,
0:51.0	especially if you want to add some drama.
0:52.6	So really if you want to make a film really good, you have to put a little bit of drama in it.
0:58.2	I thought that my force-based missions had enough drama in them.
1:01.7	But people are interested in the effect on the family.
1:04.2	So I had to get permission from my husband, my son, my daughter, my brother and sister to make sure they were okay with putting
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Chris Jericho, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Chris Jericho and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.