The youngest-ever Space Shuttle pilot and the only NASA astronaut to hail from Augusta will return to her birthplace to speak on Feb. 15.
Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Susan Still Kilrain is the scheduled keynote for the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce’s 115th Annual Meeting, the chamber announced Thursday.
Kilrain commanded two shuttle flights in 1997, just three months apart, with both missions aboard the shuttle Columbia. She is one of just three women to pilot a Space Shuttle.
USA Today named Kilrain a Woman of the Century in 2020, to help mark the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in the United States.
Women’s world:Augusta astronaut Susan Still Kilrain joins Georgia Women of the Century list
Born in Augusta and named for her mother, Kilrain is the daughter of physician Dr. Joseph M. Still, best known for establishing the nation’s largest medical burn facility at Augusta’s Doctors Hospital in 1978.
In 1985, after earning her master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy to become a military pilot and an astronaut.