NASA astronaut Christina Koch completed the 10-day Artemis II lunar fly-by mission alongside crewmates in early April 2026, traveling beyond the far side of the moon and setting new milestones as the first woman to venture past low Earth orbit.
Journey Beyond Low Earth Orbit
The Artemis II mission drew to a close with the spacecraft landing in the waters off San Diego, concluding a historic flight that marked the first human spaceflight to the moon in 53 years, according to the Artemis II mission’s historic lunar fly-by. Alongside mission specialist Christina Koch, the crew included commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Long before she went to space for the history-making Artemis II mission, astronaut Christina Koch sailed on Snipe dinghies in Chesapeake Bay. Christina Koch – sailor, surfer, rock climber, electrical engineer, and the first woman astronaut ever assigned to a lunar mission – has seen the dark side of the moon. The mission, named for the goddess of the moon and the twin sister of Apollo, was the first human spaceflight to the moon in 53 years. ‘Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis Generation,’ says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Koch, a supporting mission specialist in the Artemis II flight, has already accumulated several achievements in space. She participated in the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, and holds the record for the longest continuous stretch of time spent in space by a woman – 328 days.
An Unprecedented View of Earth
Months after returning to Earth, reflections from the flight emerged regarding the profound emotional impact of observing the home planet from deep space. Christina Koch stated while aboard the rocket that nothing prepares you for the breathtaking sensation of seeing your planet illuminated as if it were daytime, as reported by BBC. The astronaut formó parte de la primera tripulación en décadas en realizar un sobrevuelo tripulado alrededor de la Luna, una misión clave dentro del programa Artemis. Christina Koch se convirtió en la primera mujer en formar parte de una tripulación que viaja más allá de la órbita baja de la Tierra. La nave pasó cerca de la superficie lunar, permitiendo a los astronautas captar imágenes y sensaciones únicas.
How do you recover from 10 days of traveling through outer space and around the moon? If you’re astronaut Christina Koch, you disconnect from being online and just journal. Christina Koch told CNET during a visit to her alma mater, North Carolina State University, where an engineering building was being named after her, that she had spent that first week journaling about the mission without looking at any photos from it, adding that she knew that one day the photos might define her memories, but initially it was important to remember things as they were with fresh memories.