Who is Christina Koch?

April 7, 2023

In a significant moment for space exploration, astronaut Christina Hammock Koch has been announced as the first woman to circle the Moon. The US space agency, NASA, has declared that Koch will be the mission specialist when four humans board the Orion spacecraft for a trip around the Moon. This announcement marks a breakthrough as it is the first time a woman astronaut will be in the realm of the Moon, breaking a barrier that was previously only crossed by male astronauts.

Christina Koch – A Career Overview

Christina Koch joined NASA in 2013 and has served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station (ISS) for Expeditions 59, 60, and 61. She holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, all from North Carolina State University. Before joining NASA, she worked as an Electrical Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), where she contributed to scientific instruments on several NASA space science missions. Koch was first launched into space in 2019 on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft and has spent a total of 328 days in space, conducting six spacewalks, including the first three all-women spacewalks.

Artemis II Mission: What is it all about?

The announcement of Christina Koch’s involvement in the mission has officially kicked off the preparation for the Artemis II mission, which will bring humanity one step closer to landing on the Moon since the Apollo missions. The Artemis II flight is a 10-day, 2.3-million-km journey around the moon and back, aiming to demonstrate that all of Orion’s life-support apparatus and other systems will operate as designed with astronauts aboard in deep space.

Who Else is Joining Koch on the Mission?

Christina Koch will be joined by astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman on the Artemis II mission. Together, they will carry the world’s excitement, aspirations, and dreams with them on this historic mission to the Moon.

The Apollo Successor Program: A Stepping Stone to Mars

The Artemis II mission will mark the debut crewed flight of an Apollo successor program aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon’s surface this decade and establishing a sustainable outpost there, creating a stepping stone to human exploration of Mars. The objective of the program is to return astronauts to the Moon’s surface and establish a sustainable outpost, which will be used to conduct research and develop technologies that will support human exploration of Mars.

Last Time on the Moon

The last time humans walked on the lunar surface was in 1972 when Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan left his footprints on Earth’s natural satellite. The Artemis II mission brings us one step closer to returning humans to the Moon, with the added bonus of being the first mission to include a woman astronaut on its team.

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