Who was the first woman to command a space mission?

Eileen Collins was the first woman to command a space mission.

Collins served as commander of NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-93, launched on 22 July 1999. The flight deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a major space telescope designed to study high-energy objects and events.

Before becoming a commander, Collins was the first woman to pilot a Space Shuttle, serving as pilot of STS-63 in 1995. She later commanded STS-114 in 2005, the first shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster, and STS-93 remains the mission associated with her first command.

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, while Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space overall. Neither was the first woman to command a space mission, making these milestones distinct.