An F-22 pilot with more than 200 combat hours in the Middle East is trading places on the International Space Station with the first Space Force Guardian to ever launch into orbit.
Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers, along with her crewmates, launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carried by a Falcon 9 rocket on March 14 and safely arrived at the ISS early March 16.
Space Force Col. Nick Hague, who arrived at the station last September, started return preparations with his crewmates March 17 and is scheduled splash down March 18.
Ayers is part of Crew-10, the latest in the Commercial Crew Program, alongside fellow NASA astronaut Anne McClain, mission specialist Takuya Onishi of Japan, and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia. Together, they will take part in Expedition 73 aborad the ISS, conducting more than 200 experiments over the next six months, including new research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing space exploration and life on Earth.
“I can’t wait to get to work up here,” Ayers said in brief remarks after she entered the station for the first time.
Hague was part of Crew-9, which included only him and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov on the way up, but will add astronauts Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams for the return. As part of Expedition 72 program, they conducted more than 150 experiments over more than 900 hours.
“Crew-10 is made up of some of the most intelligent, efficient, and caring people I’ve ever worked with,” Ayers said in a release. “We make an amazing team because we take care of each other and back each other up on everything, both operationally and personally.”
The former combat pilot says she has long dreamed of becoming an astronaut, inspired by the Space Shuttle program that played a key role in constructing and servicing the ISS, the largest man-made space structure on orbit.
“As a child, I always loved flying and space and grew up during the Shuttle era,” recalled Ayers. “When I learned you could fly the Space Shuttle, I knew I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force and pursue my dreams of becoming a NASA astronaut through that path.”
Ayers completed pilot training in 2014 and began flying the T-38A at Langley Air Force Base, Va. As an instructor pilot, she led combat training missions for F-22 Raptor pilots. She logged over 200 combat hours with the Raptor during Operation Inherent Resolve—the campaign against the Islamic State group across Syria and Iraq—and accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours in the T-38 and F-22.
“My time in the Air Force prepared me well for this mission,” she said. “Taking care of your teammates in adverse or austere environments is something every Airman learns throughout their career.”
Her latest role in the service before officially joining NASA in 2021 was serving as the assistant director of operations for the 90th Fighter Squadron, which oversees the Raptor fleet at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
“Most of my training has been in the operational realm; learning to make split-second decisions under intense pressure is a skill we learn throughout our time as Air Force pilots,” said Ayers. “We train for the worst and hope for the best—training to go to the International Space Station is no different.”
Many NASA astronauts come from military backgrounds, including dozens from the Air Force, but it has been several years since an Airman was in orbit.
Basic requirements for becoming an astronaut include peak physical condition, proven leadership, a master’s degree in a STEM field, and at least three years of professional experience—or, for pilots, 1,000 hours in the cockpit, with 850 of those in high-performance jets. Ayers holds a master’s in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University, following her bachelor’s from the Air Force Academy.
After that, candidates undergo intense reviews before being selected. Hague, for example, said it took him 10 years and two rejections before he became a NASA astronaut.
Once selected, astronauts then take on two years of training to master spacewalking, robotic arm control, and flying T-38 jets—something Ayers already has down. Since the 1960s, NASA has maintained a fleet of T-38 Talon twin-engine jet trainers to refine candidates’ precision maneuvers and emergency procedures.
“I absolutely loved every minute of my time at the Air Force Academy and throughout my entire flying career in the T-38A and F-22,” said Ayers. “Representing those communities and the Air Force as a whole as we embark on our mission to the International Space Station is truly special and one of my greatest honors.”
Hague, meanwhile, will return to Earth after achieving a historic milestone for the young Space Force. Col. Mike Hopkins became the first Guardian in space when he transferred into the service aboard the ISS in 2020, but no Space Force member had ever launched into orbit before Hague.