In the years following Sally Ride's historic trip into space, women started to not only serve as key members of the space program, but to also fill important leadership roles. In 1999, for example, Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle.

Born in 1956, Collins was a teenager when the U.S. began sending people to the moon. Growing up, space travel was not just a dream in her world, but a reality. Early on, Collins set her sights on becoming a pilot and an astronaut. However, when she began to pursue her dream, women from the U.S. had still never been to space. Collins knew she would have to work extremely hard to succeed in a career path that was still largely uncharted for women.

To that end, Collins studied math and science in school, and eventually earned master's degrees in both operations research and space systems management.

Before her acceptance into the astronaut program in 1990, Collins met one of NASA's requirements by earning her pilot's license. First, she trained at the world-class Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Collins then enrolled in the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School— the second woman to ever attend this program. She later put her pilot training to good use, becoming the first woman to pilot a space shuttle in 1995.

Though Collins made history in 1999 as the first female shuttle commander, it was her final mission in 2005 that truly proved her capacity to lead. Two years earlier, there had been a horrible accident that shook the foundations of the space program. On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was damaged during takeoff, and later broke apart when it reentered the earth's atmosphere. All of the crew members were killed. This tragedy derailed the space program for several years, as NASA worked to improve safety, and make sure a disaster like this would never happen again.

In 2005, when Collins took command of the space shuttle Discovery, the main goal was to bring supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). However, NASA also wanted to use the Discovery mission to restore the country's faith in space travel. When the Discovery was also damaged during the launch, some people worried that there would be another tragic ending.

To make sure the shuttle would return home in one piece, the Discovery had to be repaired while still in space. As part of the repair process, Collins became the first person, male or female, to fly a space shuttle in a complete 360-degree pitch maneuver. This meant that the shuttle turned all the way around, so people on the ISS could take pictures of all sides of the shuttle. In this way, they were able to identify, and repair, all of the damage.

Almost 14 days after take-off, Collins and her crew returned to earth, safe and sound. When Collins announced her retirement a year later, NASA chief Michael Griffin said, "Eileen Collins is a living, breathing example of the best that our nation has to offer."

Many other women have risen through the ranks to become leaders in NASA. In 2013, former astronaut Ellen Ochoa was named director of Johnson Space Center (JSC). First opened in 1963, JSC became the hub of human spaceflight training. This facility is also the home of mission control, where NASA communicates with space shuttles in flight. When an Apollo 13 astronaut famously spoke the words, "Houston, we've had a problem," he was speaking to someone at JSC.

Ochoa is the second woman to serve as director of this historic facility, and the first of Hispanic descent. Like Eileen Collins before her, Ochoa began to dream of space travel before Sally Ride had broken that particular barrier for U.S. women. In fact, Ochoa was already studying for her PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University when Sally Ride, a fellow Stanford grad, went on her first space mission.

Though all astronauts are adventurers and explorers, they are also scientists at heart. Before becoming an astronaut herself, Ochoa was a research engineer. She devoted her life to improving technology for the space program.

One of her many inventions was a device that could scan objects for damage or defects—improving astronaut safety. Ochoa began to hone her leadership skills while overseeing 35 research scientists at NASA's Intelligent Systems Technology Branch in California.

In 1990, NASA accepted Ochoa into the space program in recognition of her many contributions to the space industry. During her first space mission in 1993, Ochoa helped collect information about damage to the Earth's ozone layer. This trip also marked Ochoa as the first Hispanic woman in space. After four missions, and nine years as an active astronaut, Ochoa logged almost 1,000 hours (41 days) in space. When Ochoa took over as director of JSC, her promotion was not lightly given. She had already proved her ability to lead while serving as the deputy director of JSC since 2007.

During her long career, Ochoa has been honored with many awards, including the Hispanic Engineer Albert Baez Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution to Humanity, and NASA's Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award.

One of her many goals in life is to promote science education among students. When not overseeing the 3,200 people who work for JSC, Ochoa gives speeches around the county, inspiring future scientists and astronauts.