Nicole is an astronaut and artist who 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.
A veteran NASA Astronaut with two spaceflights, one spacewalk, and 104 days living and working in space as a crewmember on both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle; she is also a NASA Aquanaut and was a crewmember on the longest duration saturation dive mission on the Aquarius undersea laboratory. She believes that the international model of peaceful and successful cooperation we have experienced in the extreme environments of space and sea hold the key to the same kind of peaceful and successful cooperation for all of humanity here on Earth.
Nicole painted the first watercolor painting in space, which is now on loan for display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
She founded the Space for Art Foundation to bring space and art together for children around the world – helping them overcome the challenges they’re facing through the wonder and awe of space exploration, the inspiration of Spaceship Earth, and the healing power of art.
Nicole is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Central Florida, and she is an instrumented rated private pilot.