Christina Koch (OG).Christina Koch
Christina Koch is an accomplished electrical engineer and NASA astronaut, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in Jacksonville, North Carolina. From a young age, she aspired to become an astronaut, ultimately earning dual bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and physics, as well as a master's degree in electrical engineering. Koch has a diverse professional background, having worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and participated in research in Antarctica and the Arctic, before joining the astronaut corps in 2013.
She became a prominent figure in space exploration, serving as a flight engineer on the International Space Station (ISS) for three expeditions and conducting six spacewalks, including the first all-female spacewalk alongside astronaut Jessica Meir. Notably, she holds the record for the longest single space flight by a woman, with a total of 328 days in space. In April 2023, it was announced that Koch would participate in the Artemis II lunar mission as Mission Specialist 1, aiming to be the first woman to embark on a lunar mission. Throughout her career, Koch has received numerous awards for her contributions to space science and engineering, and she aims to inspire future generations in the fields of STEM.
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Christina Koch
- Born: January 29, 1979
Background
Electrical engineer and astronaut Christina Koch was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina. She spent summers with her grandparents on the family farm in Michigan, where she worked and spent time outdoors. She knew that she wanted to be an astronaut from a very young age. She told her kindergarten teachers and, later, her college professors, her ambition. She loved to gaze at the stars and think about the vastness of space and humans’ place in it. In middle school, she became a member of the Rocket Club and visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Koch attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, as one of only a few women in her science classes. She earned bachelor of science degrees in electrical engineering in 2001 and physics in 2002. She also earned a master of science degree in electrical engineering in 2002. In many of her early jobs, she was one of just a few women.
Life’s Work
Koch worked for a time as an electrical engineer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Her work involved using scientific instruments that were used on space science missions. However, also interested in exploring Antarctica, she worked in the area as a research associate between 2004 and 2007. She spent a season at Palmer Station and a winter-over at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, simultaneously serving on the firefighting and search and rescue teams. Few people winter over at the South Pole, so the experience is isolating.
Koch next developed space science instruments at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory from 2007 to 2009. After returning at the start of the 2010s to Antarctica to perform scientific field work at Palmer Station before working in the Arctic at Greenland's Summit Station, she then joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and served as a field engineer in Utqiagvik, Alaska, and as a station chief of the American Samoa Observatory.
Meanwhile, in 2001, Koch had participated in the NASA Academy program at Goddard. In 2013, she was chosen as one of eight members of the twenty-first NASA astronaut class. She completed astronaut candidate training in 2015 and was assigned to her first space flight in 2018.
On March 14, 2019, Koch, astronaut Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft. She returned to Earth on February 6, 2020. She was a flight engineer on the International Space Station (ISS) for Expeditions 59, 60, and 61. The crew conducted experiments in biology, earth science, human research, physical science, and technology development. Koch spent forty-two hours and fifteen minutes in space on six spacewalks. Koch and fellow astronaut Anne McClain were slated to conduct the first all-female spacewalk on March 29, 2019, but only one of the spacesuits on the ISS would fit them both. McClain bowed out, and Koch had the opportunity to spacewalk that day with Hague. The crew spent months reconfiguring another suit that would fit astronaut Jessica Meir. On October 18, 2019, Koch and Meir left the ISS. On the first all-women spacewalk, they spent more than seven hours replacing a battery unit.
Back on Earth, Koch was branch chief of the Assigned Crew Branch in the Astronaut Office.
On April 3, 2023, NASA announced Koch was among four astronauts chosen for the Artemis II lunar mission. The others announced were Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman. Koch was designated Mission Specialist 1.
Impact
Koch has earned several awards and honors, including NASA Group Achievement Awards in 2005 and 2012. She received the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, the Astronautics Engineer Award from the National Space Club and Foundation, and the Global ATHENA Leadership Award from ATHENA International, all in 2020.
Koch set a record for the longest single space flight by a woman, having spent 328 days in space. With the Artemis II mission, she was planned to be the first woman on a lunar mission and the only engineer on the crew. The mission was meant to serve as one stage in the process of eventually establishing a lunar base.
Koch said she hoped to be an inspiration to future astronauts and scientists.
Personal Life
Koch married Robert Koch, and they lived in Texas.
Bibliography
“Christina H. Koch.” NASA, Aug. 2022, www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hammock-cm.pdf. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Garcia, Ariana. “Why Record-Breaking NASA Astronaut Christina Hammock Koch Is Going to the Moon.” Houston Chronicle, 5 Apr. 2023, www.chron.com/news/space/article/christina-hammock-koch-nasa-artemis-17878016.php. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Goldwasser, Max. “‘For All of Humanity’: GR Native Christina Koch Prepares for NASA’s Artemis II Mission.” Fox 17, 24 Apr. 2023, www.fox17online.com/fox-17-unfiltered/for-all-of-humanity-gr-native-christina-koch-prepares-for-nasas-artemis-ii-mission. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Graff, Frank. “Christina Koch Joins Crew of Artemis 2.” PBS North Carolina, 4 Apr. 2023, www.pbsnc.org/blogs/science/christina-koch-joins-crew-of-artemis-2/. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Koch, Christina. "Christina Koch Is Headed to the Moon, Exactly Like She Dreamed She Would." Interview by Josh Sullivan and Jeff Tiberii. WUNC, 8 May 2024, www.wunc.org/news/2024-05-08/christina-koch-astronaut-nc-state-nasa-moon-space. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Koch, Christina. “NASA’s Christina Koch on Becoming the First Woman on a Moon Mission & the Perspective Space Has Given Her.” Interview by Rosa Sanchez. Harper’s Bazaar, 5 Apr. 2023, www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a43507774/nasa-astronaut-christina-koch-first-woman-moon-mission-interview/. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
“North Carolina Astronaut Christina Koch Selected by NASA to Be First Woman to Fly Around the Moon.” ABC 11, 3 Apr. 2023, abc11.com/christina-koch-artemis-2-launch-date-ii/13078210/. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Wendel, JoAnna. “Christina Hammock Koch: Record-Breaking NASA Astronaut.” Space, 25 Oct. 2021, www.space.com/christina-koch. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.