Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars

The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission

By: Col. Eileen M. Collins USAF (Retired), Jonathan H. Ward

Narrated by: Molly Secours

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited memoir of a trailblazer and role model who is telling her story for the first time.

Eileen Collins was an aviation pioneer her entire career, from her crowning achievements as the first woman to command an American space mission as well as the first to pilot the space shuttle to her early years as one of the Air Force's first female pilots. She was in the first class of women to earn pilot's wings at Vance Air Force Base and was their first female instructor pilot. She was only the second woman admitted to the Air Force's elite Test Pilot Program at Edwards Air Force Base.

NASA had such confidence in her skills as a leader and pilot that she was entrusted to command the first shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster, returning the US to spaceflight after a two-year hiatus. Since retiring from the Air Force and NASA, she has served on numerous corporate boards and is an inspirational speaker about space exploration and leadership.

©2021 Eileen M. Collins and Jonathan H. Ward (P)2021 Tantor

Great story

The story was very interesting. The only thing that really bothered me was the person reading it pronounced NASA wrong. She said it the same as Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. I don’t know why it bothered me so much. Maybe the astronauts really pronounce it that way, but in 63 years, I’ve never heard that pronunciation. I also thought sometimes the editing wasn’t very good; there wasn’t a pause between unrelated subjects in some areas. But Col. Collins story is great! I think I might like reading the paper book more than the audiobook in this instance, I’m going to buy it.

Great book...

Really good to hear a true story of a great hero. The best books out there.

If Only Eileen Collins Had Read It Herself

Eileen Collins has a great story to tell. The way her book is edited together with her cowriter, her story flows from interesting tidbits to interesting tidbits.

But, oh how I wish she read it herself!

Or, perhaps someone on the audiobook production team had heard of NASA and knew it wasn't pronounced like the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau.

Yes, you can look past it the first few times, but in a book about an astronaut with four historic flights and several firsts to her name, 'NASA' is going to come up a lot.

And, the audience for this memoir will notice.

It is such a shame too, because of the narrator's blundering pronunciation of a central figure in an astronaut's life story, the American space agency NASA, it truly grates on the performance and detracts so much from the otherwise fine performance. The narrator is not monotonically reading this; she adds emotion and has a good flow. You just get pulled out of the story every time she pronounces NASA as NASSAU. Even after a few chapters and you've come to accept that the narrator and producers have never heard of NASA and you settle down to enjoy her gripping tale, that pesky little bit of the back of your mind noticeably cringes with each mention of NASSAU.

Which, as mentioned, is frequent and common in the story of an astronaut.

Alas.

Ms. Collins, if you ever see these reviews, please consider doing a production of your book in your voice. The genuineness you'll bring to your own story will be worth it, and that's before the first time you don't say 'NASSAU' 💜💙.

Quite wonderful — except for "Nasau"!

A great read on many levels: memoir, mission details, perspective on leadership and teamwork, history, etc. I'm already buying copies for friends I know would enjoy it.

I read "Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars" on the heels of Gene Krantz's "Failure is Not an Option," and worried nothing could compare. (If you've not read "Failure," read it!) But Eileen Collins's book does! And wonderfully so.

Before purchasing I did note the many Audible-review gripes about the reader pronouncing NASA as "Nasau," the capital of the Bahamas. I thought, "What's the big deal?"

Well—

It does grate after a while. "Nasau. Nasau. Nasau." Molly Secours does a great job except for that one word. Whoever directed the narration must have been out to lunch. "Nasau. Nasau. Nasau." S/he didn't notice?!?!? It's unbelievable and a little shocking.

That said, TTGC2TS is a great read and highly recommended!

Enjoy!

Great autobiography of a fascinating perso

Highly recommended! Colonel Collins participated in or led some of the greatest shuttle missions…rendezvous with Mir, deployment of the Chandra Observatory, first shuttle mission post-Columbia disaster. She has penned a thorough document about all of these adventures. Get our copy and share the exciting journey!

Book for everyone

I was a bit hesitant to listen to this book because I thought it might be all about accomplishments as a woman. But it was an amazing story with so many good lessons about leadership, hard work, perseverance, and NASA.

The reader mispronounced NASA (as well as a few other words) which was very annoying however the story was worth enduring. I’d encourage the publishers to re-record.

Narrator is okay….if you don’t mind hearing “NASAW” instead of NASA

Love the story, and Col Collins is a hero of mine. Her story is amazing, and the narrator is pretty good.

My one complaint is she says NASA as “NAS-aw”. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard it pronounced that way and it makes me grind my teeth. It’s awful when, as a space nerd, I’ve always heard it pronounced “NAS-Uh” by astronauts, the media, scientists, the NASA PR people….literally everyone.

Not sure how this happened/how it got through some type of editing process, but….I finished reading it in print once the story came to the part of her test pilot school and onward, so I could save my teeth. UGH.

Great story, great American- Narrator distracting

I am the target audience for thIs book- I literally have Commander Collins signed photo on my office wall. However, I almost could not make it through the first 2 minutes of the book due to the narrator. I found Her voice to be monotone and almost robotic. Her inflection did not fit the story- it was like she was sight reading. She also mispronounced several words causing my to cringe and take me out of the great story.
Missle became Miss-sile, Nasa became Nassau
I’m Glad I stuck it out because the story was so excellent but it would have been much better with a different narrator.

Thank you for your service and this great book Commander Collins!

Awesome narrator!

A really enjoyable and interesting book with a fantastic narrator. Great listen on my commutes!

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Interesting facts, many technical details and information will break anyone's paradigms about women flyers. Inspirational at many points in the listen. The book is certainly easy to read and the technical jargon explained so that anyone can understand it. This is an inspiring look at an exciting part of American history, written by a true hero.