‘Can’t wait to make you guys proud’: Colorado Springs woman becomes NASA astronaut

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado Springs native Nichole Ayers has always had dreams of the sky. Now, the stars are in her sights. Ayers graduated as a member of NASA’s newest astronaut class this week.

“As a little kid I had this dream of being an astronaut and, you know, I grew up in the shuttle era, and at an early age I found out you know that people didn’t just ride on the shuttle, they flew it,” Ayers told 11 News after her graduation Tuesday. “Growing up right there in Colorado Springs, you know, the Air Force Academy was right up the street, so I had a pretty good idea… I was really serious little kid who set my goals on getting into the Air Force Academy and trying to be an Air Force pilot very early on in my life.”

Ayers is not just an astronaut, but also an Air Force Major. She graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2011 and since then has spent her fair share of time in the sky. She said her experience at the Academy and in the Air Force has been crucial over the past two years of astronaut training.

“I think that flying is a team sport just as much as going to space is a team sport,” Ayers said. “Working together, mission planning, executing the mission, and the debriefing all together as one cohesive unit is just a ‘plug and play’ for NASA.”

She said excited is an understatement for the feelings regarding she and her team’s investigation, and said she’s looking forward to contributing to NASA’s mission.

“Whether that’s in a ground job and working testing future space vehicles or space suits, or whether that’s getting assigned to a spaceflight mission and training for the mission, you know, I’m just excited to start to give back to NASA,” Ayers said. “They just put a lot of time and effort into us to train us and get us ready, and I can’t wait to start getting back and contributing to human spaceflight.”

Her message to the Colorado Springs community?

“The support from the Colorado community has been huge, and from the Air Force Academy community, and so just thank you… thank you for all the support, can’t wait to make you guys proud.”

Ayers’s full conversation with 11 News Digital Anchor Lauren Watson can be watched at the top of this article.

Copyright 2024 KKTV. All rights reserved.