Local NASA astronaut is back on Earth after piloting mission to International Space Station
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – After nearly five months orbiting Earth on the International Space Station (ISS), Woodland Park’s own Nichole Ayers is back home – or at least back on solid ground.
Ayers, a graduate of Woodland Park High School and the U.S. Air Force Academy, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 9 – marking the successful completion of NASA’s 10th commercial crew rotation mission to the ISS.
Ayers is a member of the SpaceX Crew-10, joined by fellow NASA astronaut Anne McClain, a Russian cosmonaut and a member of Japan's space program. The team of four launched from Kennedy Space Center on March 14, landing on the ISS about 29 hours later.
According to NASA, the crew spent nearly four months aboard the space station conducting science experiments, technology demonstrations and even a spacewalk before returning to Earth. Over their 147 days in orbit, the team traveled nearly 62.8 million miles and completed 2,368 laps around the planet.
The mission marked Ayers' first spaceflight, during which she helped with over 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations, including research on plant growth in space, the effects of space radiation on plant DNA, and how microgravity changes human eye structure and cells.
"The research conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars," NASA said in a release.
Ayers also completed her first spacewalk on May 1, alongside fellow astronaut McClain, to relocate a communications antenna and begin work to install a mounting bracket for a future solar array, NASA said.
The SpaceX Crew-10 returned to Earth at 11:33 a.m. EDT, landing in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of San Diego, where teams aboard recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and crewmembers, NASA said.
After returning to shore, the crew flew to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their loved ones.
Before the mission began, Ayers spoke to KRDO13 about what the accomplishment meant to her and reflected on how her time in the Pikes Peak region guided her to the pilot's seat.
"Growing up right there in Colorado, next to the Air Force Academy during the shuttle era, when I learned you could fly the shuttle, I was like, oh, so that's what I want to do," Ayers said. "I want to be a pilot in the Air Force, and with the Air Force Academy right there, with the Thunderbirds flying over every year, it was just a natural decision for me."
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