PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — March is Women's History Month, and a Clearwater woman who is genuinely out of this world is being recognized. Of course, that's because she was an astronaut.
"We always had fun; I mean, you have to take advantage of floating and flying," said Nicole Stott.
Walking through the Clearwater Historical Society Museum, Stott never could have imagined she would be part of the display Trailblazing Women of Clearwater.
"It's awesome, and I'm really thankful," said Stott, who grew up in Clearwater. "I started out with my parents out at the Clearwater Air Park, flying little airplanes there that my dad would build and fly."
"People come through and they're like, 'I didn't know this,' trying to educate them, that we do have this caliber of citizens in our area, this is the amazing things they do," said Allison Dolan, President of the Clearwater Historical Society.
During Stott's 28-year NASA career, she participated in two missions to the International Space Station, spending four combined months there.
"So I had the opportunity to bring up a little watercolor kit and paint some of the views I saw out the window," said Stott. "Very distinguished Pinellas County, Tampa Bay area pictures."
Stott also had the chance to bring along a t-shirt and pennant from her alma mater, Clearwater High School.
"One of the greatest things about flying to space is this opportunity to reconnect with the people who helped you get to be able to fly in space, and Clearwater High was definitely one of those places for me," said Stott.
Stott is officially retired and living back home in Clearwater, but the missions continue. One of the Space for Art Foundation, which includes an actual space suit at the exhibit.
"Each of the little paintings on this suit and every other suit we've done is done by an individual child in a hospital, refugee center, orphanage or rural school around the world," said Stott.
Stott has also written her first book called, "Back to Earth."
"And then the subtitle is, 'What life in space taught me about my home planet and our mission to protect it,' and in the end, I really want it to be a call to action," said Stott.
