Astronaut Nichole Ayers’ former Woodland Park coach speaks to her character following successful NASA launch

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) - The winds may have been howling today in Southern Colorado, but in Florida, it was the perfect day for a space launch.

SpaceX Crew 10, led by NASA Pilot Major Nichole Ayers of Woodland Park, leaped off the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center Friday evening.

She's now orbiting Earth and preparing for her next big task: docking at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.

It's an amazing story for an inspiring local woman who KRDO13 has been following for years now.

Ayers' achievements which earned her the pilot seat on Friday's space mission are nothing short of extraordinary.

One of her high school coaches says Nichole's latest adventure doesn't surprise her one bit. After all, Ayers told her she would go to space years ago. 

"We're all sitting by the chimney and watching the stars and she was mentioning the stars and we didn't have a sky map or anything and she's like this and this and they're all like, how do you know that? And she goes well I'm going to be an astronaut. And we all went like, yeah, I could see that," Vickie Cusimano said.

Cusimano is the woman who coached Ayers in volleyball while she attended Woodland Park High School.

"Right away I picked her as a varsity starter because she was really good," Cusimano said.

She adds that Ayers was different than your typical teenager, "Very mature and very focused and in the moment, which is hard for a lot of teenagers and adults as well. But, she just was always there and a team player."

This is why seeing her pilot NASA's SpaceX Crew 10 on Friday afternoon came as no surprise.

"I was emotional, teary-eyed, you know, just, you know, wanting everything to go great and just every time her and her comrades spoke, they were just all -- it was so elegant," Cusimano said.

Ayers had this to say after the successful launch, "I would be remiss to not once again acknowledge those who helped me get here to this wonderful view and this perspective. To the teachers, coaches, fellow officers, fellow teammates, raptor nation, to my friends and family who encouraged my dreams from the start. Thank you. I wouldn't be here without you."

Crew 10 is now relieving astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who found themselves spending 9 months in space after an issue with their return capsule.

Ayers and her three crew mates are now expected to stay in orbit for about 4 months; conducting research experiments on the ISS.