INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION/ COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – 250 miles above Earth, Astronaut Nichole Ayers is fulfilling a life-long dream. Ayers has been aboard the International Space Station since March when she piloted SpaceX’s Crew 10 mission to space.
Earlier this month, she spoke one-on-one with 11 News Anchor Adam Atchison while circling the planet in the research station.
“I’ve always loved space since I was just this big,” she said.
“What were your first impressions?” Atchison asked.
“One of my first impressions is something that is never going to get old… it’s kind of become my party trick,” said Ayers, while demonstrating zero-gravity. “When you’re first on board here, you have to get used to talking to someone who’s on the wall, or someone who’s on the ceiling.”
It isn’t just floating around for Ayers or any of her colleagues on board. At any given moment, there are over 200 experiments happening both inside and outside the station. Helping manage them is part of Ayers’ responsibilities.
“For me, one of the biggest honors of being up here is to have a small part in that science,” said Ayers. “It takes some scientists their entire career of effort and research to get their experiment on board here. It’s a privilege and honor to have a small part of that.”
Ayers was selected by NASA to become an astronaut in 2021. She’s a graduate of Woodland Park High School and the Air Force Academy. She led the first all-woman F-22 formation in combat.
The Air Force Lieutenant Colonel also took her first spacewalk in May.
“I was suddenly very aware of how thin that visor is, you know, when it’s just you and the spacesuit and you’re looking at the vacuum of space,” she told Atchison.
“That’s our goal, as astronauts, is to do the hard things and make it look easy.”
When she’s not taking walks in space, Ayers takes photos. Some of them have gone viral on social media.
“When we look at the Earth, we can see the whole population of the whole Earth, and there are no borders, there’s no solid color state or country. It’s all one giant humanity.”
“What’s your message to others – young people – who might have aspirations to get to space?” asked Atchison.
“Put your nose to the grinder, work really hard and be a good team player,” Ayers responded. “That will get you anywhere you want to go in life.”
Ayers is scheduled to come home from the ISS in August.
Watch the full interview below:
250 miles above Earth, Astronaut Nichole Ayers is fulfilling a life-long dream. Ayers has been aboard the International Space Station since March.
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