senior member of the class, as she was the only one with the rank of major, which made her the class leader. At Edwards she flew several types of aircraft, including the Lockheed TR-1, P-3 Orion and C-130 Hercules, the de Havilland Canada UV-18 Twin Otter, the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, Learjet 24, Beechcraft King Air, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-111, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Vought A-7 Corsair II and the Goodyear Blimp. She graduated in June 1990. Astronaut career Selection and training On 17 April 1989, the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it was selecting another class of astronauts. Collins's application was one of nearly 2,500 received by the 30 June 1989 deadline, of which 1,945 met the minimum requirements for pilots or mission specialists. Because she had not yet graduated from the USAF Test Pilot School, the USAF submitted her application as one for a mission specialist. NASA convened a selection board chaired by the Director of Flight Crew Operations, Don Puddy, which also included Carolyn Huntoon, the Director of Life Sciences; Joseph Atkinson, the Chief of Equal Opportunity Programs; and astronauts John Young, Charles Bolden, Hoot Gibson, Rhea Seddon, Jerry Ross and Mary Cleave. In September 1989, Collins received a call from Duane Ross, the selection board's administrative officer, inviting her to come to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) with the second of five groups of hopefuls for a week of interviews, examinations, medical evaluations and orientation, commencing on 2 October 1989. Once again, her eyesight proved a problem; she failed the depth perception test, but the doctor allowed her to take an alternative test, which she passed. On 16 January 1990, she saw a note on the message board asking her to call Duane Ross. When she called she was put through to John Young, who informed her that she had been selected. When he asked if she had any questions, she asked if she was to be a pilot or a mission specialist. Young laughed and told her: "Pilot! Yes, pilot. You will be the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle!" Collins's selection as one of the twenty-three astronaut candidates (ASCANs) in NASA Astronaut Group 13 was publicly announced on 17 January 1990. The group called themselves the "Hairballs". She reported for duty at JSC on 16 July 1990, after graduating from the USAF Test Pilot