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Eileen Collins.

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Your application to become an astronaut was approved all the way back in 1990. How hard is it going to be to leave?

I've spent sixteen years in a wonderful series of jobs--my four space missions and the support jobs I've done before and in between. The people [at NASA] are very intelligent and dedicated, and they're passionate about the space program. Its going to be hard to leave this. So your next question is probably, "Why are you leaving?"

As a matter of fact, yes.

I do love it, but I have a responsibility to my family. This job is a lifestyle. It's your life. And I need a little bit of downtime to spend with my family and to straighten out my home life--meaning, you know, I need to get the house painted. I need to get the lawn worked on.

There are people you can pay to do that.

I've been paying people to do that since my daughter was born ten and a half years ago, but at some point you need to intervene. I have memorabilia from my space missions--things that I've collected for years--and I want to organize it all. When Hurricane Rita went through [Houston] last September, that was a factor in my decision too, because we had damage to our home. It's nothing compared to New Orleans, but it was enough for me to realize how vulnerable we are in this area. So I have work to do, not only to protect my house but to get things out of there that I don't want to lose.

Makes sense.

But the main reason that I'm leaving the astronaut office is that I'm not going to fly again.

Your choice or theirs?

It's because of the nature of the remainder of the shuttle program. We will have sixteen more flights before the end of this decade, and at that point we're going to shut down the program. We have almost fifty astronauts who have not even flown one. Why would I fly a fifth flight when we have many astronauts waiting for their first?

Extremely unselfish of you, Colonel.

Well, I don't believe the management at NASA would assign an astronaut to a fifth flight. Now, if NASA said, "We need you to fly another mission," I would do it.

Do you feel like you're still able to fly?

Oh, yes.

Your skills are sharp. Your aptitudes are

what they are, having experienced this four times. You know more than just about anybody over there how to do this.

That's exactly right. In fact, I...

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