Nicole is an astronaut, aquanaut, artist, author of Back to Earth ~ What Life In Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet – And Our Mission To Protect It, and most importantly a mom. She creatively combines the awe and wonder of her spaceflight experience with her artwork to inspire everyone’s appreciation of our role as crewmates here on Spaceship Earth.
Nicole is a veteran NASA Astronaut with two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space as a crew member on both the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle. Personal highlights of her time in space include being the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk, first person to operate the ISS robotic arm to capture a free-flying cargo vehicle, painting the first watercolor in space (on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum), working with her international crew for the benefit of all life on Earth, and of course the life-changing view of our home planet.
