Nichole "Vapor" Ayers is a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the United States Air Force and

NASA astronaut The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...

candidate. She is currently a resident of

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Education

Nichole Ayers graduated from

Woodland Park High School Woodland Park High School is a high school located at 151 Panther Way in Woodland Park, Colorado Woodland Park is home rule municipality in Teller County, Colorado, United States. Woodland Park is part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan ...

in Woodland Park, Colorado. Afterwards, she attended the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), where she graduated a bachelor's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

(with a minor in Russian) in 2011. She earned a master's degree in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in 2013.

Career

In 2014, Nichole Ayers completed flight training, and flew the

T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: * T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics * T.38, a standard for fax over IP * T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank * Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...

for an adversary squadron at

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News, Virginia, Newport News. It was one of List of airfields of the Training Section of the United States Army Air Service, thirty-two ...

. She later became a flight instructor, providing adversary training to F-22 Raptor units based at Langley. In 2018, Ayers completed training for the F-22, and currently serves as a flight instructor for the F-22. Ayers has logged more than 200 flight hours during

Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...

. At the time of her selection as an Astronaut Candidate, Ayers was the assistant director of operations of the

90th Fighter Squadron The 90th Fighter Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 3d Operations Group, 3d Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Pacific Air Forces. The squadron is equipped with the F-22 Raptor fighter. The 90 FS is one of ...

at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Astronaut candidacy

On December 6, 2021, Nichole Ayers was revealed to be one of ten candidates selected as part NASA Astronaut Group 23.

Awards and honors

Ayers was a distinguished graduate of the USAFA and Undergraduate Pilot Training. She has received the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Operation

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal The Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal is a United States Department of Defense service award and campaign medal. The medal was established by Executive Order on 30 March 2016 by U.S. President Barack Obama. The medal may be awarded to members of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, Nichole 1980s births Year of birth uncertain Living people Rice University alumni United States Air Force astronauts Astronaut candidates United States Air Force Academy alumni