Looking up to the shuttle commander

Congratulations to the Discovery crew and NASA on the completion of a successful mission (Aug. 10) and the safe return home of the shuttle.

Bravo to commander Eileen Collins for her wonderful leadership throughout this mission and her excellence in piloting the shuttle in its descent to Earth. There are not enough superlatives to quantify her performance in this mission. What an example to young people and young women in particular.

JAY HELFERT

Lawndale

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My 4-year old son, Ben, is a big fan of the space shuttle. We ate breakfast in front of the TV a couple weeks ago to see it take off, and Tuesday morning we watched a replay of the landing. We also watched some footage of mission control on NASA TV. The voice of mission control was a woman, and we could see her as she communicated with flight commander Collins up in space somewhere. I asked Ben if he would rather pilot the space shuttle or work at mission control and he said, “I thought only girls could do those things.” I found myself uttering words that would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago: “No, Ben, boys can do those things too.”

People say this shuttle mission wasn’t much more than an expensive garbage pickup from the International Space Station. But the lesson it taught young girls across this country made it worth every penny.

TRACI MANN

Los Angeles