Colorado Astronaut Returns to Earth After Five-Month Space Station Mission

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Major Nichole Ayers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast at 9:33 a.m. Saturday, concluding a roughly 17 and a half hour return journey from orbit. The successful reentry marked the end of nearly five months for Ayers aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Ayers, a graduate of Woodland Park High School and the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), undocked from the ISS with fellow NASA astronaut Anne McClain, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov at approximately 4:15 a.m. Friday.

The astronaut’s mission commenced on March 14 when she launched to join the orbiting laboratory. During her time in space, Ayers participated in diverse research initiatives encompassing studies of human physiological adaptation to microgravity, technological demonstrations, and routine maintenance tasks vital for the station’s operations. She also collaborated with McClain on a fifth all-female spacewalk earlier this year and engaged directly with students from her alma mater, Woodland Park High School, via a live video call where she fielded inquiries about space exploration, scientific principles, and technological advancements.

Following her graduation from Woodland Park High School, Ayers obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, complemented by a minor in Russian, at the USAFA. She completed pilot training in 2014, initially flying the T-38A aircraft at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia before progressing to become an instructor pilot for F-22 fighter jets and undertaking operational missions worldwide. Ayers subsequently earned a master’s degree in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in Houston. In 2021, she was selected as part of NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Class and formally joined the agency’s astronaut corps in January 2022.