NASA has named the first woman as part of its crew of astronauts set to fly around the moon late next year.
Her name is Christina Hammock Koch, and she already holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Now, at 44 years old, she’ll become the first woman to ever embark on a lunar mission, having been assigned as Mission Specialist I of NASA’s Artemis II mission.
Koch has also participated in six different spacewalks, including the first three all-women spacewalks. She’s previously worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and has an extensive engineering background.
“When I was young, I had a poster of the Earthrise picture- the famous picture that was taken on Apollo 8,” said Koch. “And the fact that it was a human behind the lens that made that picture so profound and changed how we all thought of our own home was so amazing to me.
“The moon is not just a symbol of thinking about our place in the universe. It’s not just a symbol of exploration. It’s actually a beacon for science. It’s a beacon for understanding where we came from,” she said.
For this upcoming feat into space, Koch will be joining the three other Artemis II astronauts– Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman.
Also making history, Glover will be the first person of colour to embark on a lunar mission, and Hansen will be the first Canadian to travel to the moon.
This space crew’s diversity is a welcomed move as, according to NASA stats, only 35.52 per cent of their workforce are women, 11.83 per cent are Black, 5.79 per cent are Latino and 6.25 per cent are Asian.
Artemis II is a 10-day flyby mission and is the last test flight before NASA aims to land two astronauts on the moon by about 2025.
The Artemis crew’s Orion capsule will launch atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Centre in Merritt Island, Florida in late 2024.
While the crew won’t be landing on the moon’s surface, they’ll be the first people in more than 50 years to leave Earth’s immediate vicinity and be near the moon.
NASA has laid out some clear goals for the Artemis mission, including to inspire young people to explore space, to establish increased political and economic sustainability for the entire Artemis program and to encourage future international collaboration for missions.
On Sunday, US President Joe Biden gave the four astronauts a call, saying “the world holds their breath when things like this happen” and that the work they’re doing “will inspire the next generation of explorers, and show every child– in America, in Canada, and across the world– that if they can dream it, they can be it”.
Ready to inspire the next generation of female astronauts, Koch told Harper’s Bazaar that her message to other women wanting to enter the field is to “follow your passions to make sure that when you look at your life and you map it out and you’re at those big crossroads, you’re picking the path that really feels true to what you love.”
Koch also said it’s been her dream to become an astronaut for as long as she can remember, and she’s excited to be part of this historic mission.
“I am most excited about the teamwork,” said Koch. “I am most excited that this mission is the first time we’re putting humans on board the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft; we are going to find things that we don’t even know we’re going to find.”