Nichole “Vapor” Ayers

2021 NASA Astronaut. Lt Col, U.S. Air Force. F-22 Raptor Pilot. Twin Sister, Auntie.

[NASA @NASA]

LIVE: Leaders from NASA and our partners provide updates on Crew-10 after the mission successfully splashed down off the coast of California earlier today. https://t.co/9D61dt2qXJ

[NASA @NASA]

LIVE: After nearly five months on the @Space_Station, our Crew-10 space travelers are returning to Earth!

Crew-10 will be our first Commercial Crew mission to splash down off the California coast. Splashdown is targeted for 11:33am ET (1533 UTC). https://t.co/rLlnqasErx

[NASA @NASA]

LIVE: Crew-10 is aboard, the hatch is closed, and @SpaceX’s Dragon is ready to depart for Earth. Watch as the crew leave the @Space_Station to splash down on Saturday, Aug. 9, at approximately 11:33 a.m. ET (1533 UTC). https://t.co/RcPTJCKgir

[NASA @NASA]

LIVE: Crew-10 is getting ready to return to Earth. Watch as the hatches are closed on their spacecraft to head home. https://t.co/N1X7cewEKe

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

Wow. I can’t believe how fast the time went by and that we are already on our last day in space. I’m so grateful for these crewmates. They made our mission something I will never forget. We had so many belly laughs, good conversations, and impeccable operational prowess. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Earth, here we come! GO Crew-10!

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

With Crew-11 docked to the zenith port, we have a great view of our Dragon. Here’s a night pass with a view of Endurance from Endeavor. Also, look at the shadow from the Moon!

[NASA @NASA]

In their five months aboard the @Space_Station, Crew-10 had an eventful mission full of science. From observing lightning above the atmosphere to studying how cells sense gravity, learn more about what they did: https://t.co/LAaraHcf64

[NASA @NASA]

LIVE from the @Space_Station: @AstroAnnimal, @Astro_Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov are making farewell remarks before Crew-10 heads back to Earth. https://t.co/Sa8LZL80DW

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

Sunday was hair wash day!

[International Space Station @Space_Station]

The hatches opened between the @SpaceX Dragon and the space station at 3:46am ET today and the #Crew11 quartet joined the Exp 73 crew. https://t.co/YkICXIdLU0

[COL Anne McClain @AstroAnnimal]

As we get close to leaving @Space_Station, I find myself wanting to savor every moment and every view. None of us are guaranteed to get to do this again, and every minute spent in space is a special one. I dropped into the Cupola to look out the window and just be in the moment, not taking photos or looking for anything in particular. Well, when this view presented itself, I changed my mind … I had to pick up a camera to share this with all of you. Wow!

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

I got the best wake-up call ever this morning when we found out Crew-11 was going to be a little early! They made it safely to the @Space_Station, and it was a beautiful rendezvous (so naturally I had to take a few photos). So happy to have our friends on board! Congrats @zenanaut, @AstroIronMike, Kimiya, and Oleg! We are so glad you’re here. 😊

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

Due to atmospheric drag, the @Space_Station decelerates over time, which causes a loss in altitude. We have to execute a reboost in order to get back to speed and altitude.

When the thrusters are firing, you can feel and see the acceleration inside the station! Ha, we had fun being human accelerometers. 😊

[大西卓哉 （JAXA宇宙飛行士）Takuya Onishi @Astro_Onishi]

日曜日は帰還に向けて、ニコルに髪を切ってもらいました。
ジョニーの髪を切ってるところも見学させてもらったので、どんな風に切るのか、何となくイメージもできました。
今週末に迫った油井さんの到着に向けて、私も準備万端です。

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

As I went to close the cupola shutters Tuesday night, the robotic arm backlit by an aurora caught my eye! Our robotics team on the ground was busy at work while we headed to bed.

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

We like to celebrate milestones and birthdays on @Space_Station with cakes! You have to be creative when you can’t bake. We use cinnamon buns, muffin tops, pudding, fruit, and other things we can find in the pantry to make them special and delicious. Sometimes we get frosting as well and then we get to decorate them🙂

We have definitely upped our cake game with each iteration. Trying to sneak in a cake build while someone is doing an activity in a different module has become one of my favorite parts!

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

Hello Milan! If you guys haven’t seen the lightning sequence @AstroAnnimal posted a couple weeks ago, you should go check it out! Shots like these take quite a bit of planning and timing. This video is a sequence of still pictures taken at 120 frames per second.

We have such a unique view of lightning up here and we’ve been trying to capture as much as possible! For these pictures, I got lucky that Milan was close by. It provides a gauge for just how big some of these storms and lightning flashes can be.

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

See you soon Ax-4! Wishing you a soft landing!

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

We said goodbye to our #Ax4 friends today. I was just reminiscing on the haircuts from last weekend! After a long quarantine, I think it was nice for them. 😊

We joked about how I might have a future in the haircutting business when I get back on Earth, but the reviews are still out. 😆

[Nichole “Vapor” Ayers @Astro_Vapor]

We have to be our own plumbers, electricians, contractors, dentists, phlebotomists, and even ultrasound techs up here! @Astro_Onishi and I recently did a routine venous thromboembolism (VTE) scan of the jugular vein.

While in microgravity aboard the @Space_Station, our blood flow can change which could increase the risk of dangerous blood clots. We do these scans often to ensure everyone stays healthy!