Astronaut Eileen Collins was first woman and American Space Shuttle pilot and later, the first Space Shuttle Commander. She logged four missions into Space on the Space Shuttle. She is the winner of the prestigious Harmon Trophy and has spent 38 days 8 hours and 20 minutes in outer space. She is a retired USAF Colonel and test pilot.
The Soviet Union (Russia) launched two women into Space before Sally Ride became the first American into Space onboard the Space Shuttle. Since that milestone, tragedy has claimed four women in Spaceflight accidents, including three Americans and one from India. The second American woman into Space, Judith Resnik, lost her life in the Challenger disaster and is technically, the first woman astronaut to lose her life in a Spaceflight accident. Onboard with her was Christa McAuliffe, the third American woman in Space, the first non-astronaut, but the first Teacher in Space. Both died during liftoff and as the Shuttle Challenger was "Go for Throttle up." The other two women to perish were lost aboard the Shuttle Columbia. US Navy Captain and Flight Surgeon Laurel Blair Salton Clark and Aerospace Engineer Kalpana Chawla, were both Mission Specialists onboard Shuttle Columbia. Chawla was the first woman from India in Space and was on her second mission into Space. Chawla's first mission was also aboard Columbia. The 16-day Columbia mission was Clark's first mission into Space.