Lucid received her Ph.D, Masters, and Bachelors degrees from the University of Oklahoma after having grown up in Bethany. She was working for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation when she received the call from Houston telling her she had been selected as an astronaut in 1978. She flew five times with her final mission on the Russian Mir Space Station where she set a record for the longest time in space for an American and a world record for the longest time in space for a female. But to reach those records, Lucid first had to go to Enid with the other female astronauts and attend training sessions. Shuttle astronauts came in two groups—either as a pilot or Mission Specialist. The Mission Specialists were on board to run experiments and equipment, as well as perform spacewalks. They weren’t required to be pilots, so they didn’t necessarily have the parachute skills. Because of that, the Vance training became a standard for all non-pilot astronauts. Second Lieutenant Eileen Collins reported to Vance AFB in September 1978 for jet pilot training. She was among the first group of female pilots being trained by the Air Force for jet fighter flight. This was part of a test program for women in flight training. Her first week at Vance was also the time the six female ASCANs showed up for parachute and survival training. This group of ASCANs, that included Shannon Lucid, became role models for Collins. She noticed none were training as pilots. That’s when she began to think that she could be a space shuttle pilot someday. Collins went on to become the first female pilot on STS-63 and the first female Commander on STS-93. Collins spent a year in Jet Pilot Training at Vance and then stayed on as an instructor. She was the only female instructor in Vance’s T-38 squadron from September 1979 to December 1982. Collins spent a total of four years at Vance. Duane Ross, born in Oklahoma City and raised in Healdton, Oklahoma, began work for NASA after Returning years later as an ASCAN, in 1990 Eileen Collins participated in parachute training. Courtesy NASA. At Vance AFB, Eileen Collins spent four years stationed in Enid, Oklahoma as one of the first female jet pilots, students, and instructors. Courtesy NASA. 17 35