Nicole P. Stott, a space flight veteran, who has been part of two successful missions to the International Space Station (ISS) on NASA’s now-retired Space Shuttle Discovery, has decided to pursue some of her other passions like art.

The 52-year-old former NASA astronaut will keep promoting benefits of space explorations and inspiring the next generation of engineers and astronauts. Unlike many of her fellow astronauts, Stott did not start her career at NASA as an astronaut.

Stott rather began working for the American space agency in 1989 as an operations engineer in one of the three Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Stott in 2000 was selected to be a Mission Specialist.

Stott waited another nine years before traveling to orbit as a member of the STS-128 crew on board Space Shuttle Discovery. Two years later, in 2011, she again travelled in Discovery during the orbiter’s final mission, STS-133.

It has been said that Stott decided to leave NASA earlier this year and has a strong passion for art. Stott even detailed her reasons for leaving the agency during an interview with SpaceFlight Insider shortly after she made the announcement of her departure.

Stott said that she for sure needs some training, and is right now doing painting based on pictures she took from space. She said she is not doing anything like PhotoShop. She takes the image and either layers it with multiple images or embellishes it with paint in some way.