Susan Leigh Kilrain

Susan Kilrain, Commander, U.S. Navy (retired), is the youngest person, and one of only three women, ever to pilot the Space Shuttle. One of the first women selected to fly the F-14 Tomcat and a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she logged more than 3,000 flight hours in over thirty aircraft types during a 20-year Navy career. Selected by NASA in 1995, she piloted Columbia on STS-83 and returned to orbit months later as pilot of STS-94, logging nearly 472 hours in space. Today a motivational speaker and STEM advocate, Susan is the author of the children’s book An Unlikely Astronaut and the memoir Slaying Snakes in the Cockpit.