On April 1, NASA astronaut Christina Koch will become the first woman to fly beyond Earth orbit and orbit the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis II mission.
As a mission specialist, Koch will help test the Orion spacecraft’s life support, navigation, and communications systems during the 10-day journey, paving the way for future lunar landings.
Christina Koch holds the record for the longest solo spaceflight by a woman at 328 days. She also participated in the first all-female spacewalk in 2019.
Koch herself emphasized that “we live in a time when anyone with a dream can work equally hard to achieve it.”