It’s been 51 years since NASA landed the first man on the moon, and now NASA is planning a return visit to continue exploring and bring more astronauts there, including the first woman on the moon. North Carolina native Christina Koch could be the one making that historic step.
Koch, 41, is one of the 18 U.S. astronauts NASA announced will train for the Artemis missions. Koch is a graduate of North Carolina State University and the North Carolina School of Science and Math.
The goal of the program is to get humans back on the moon by 2024. The first flight of the program, dubbed Artemis 1, is a planned un-crewed test flight for the agency's Orion capsule and the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. They are both new systems being developed for the moon mission. Artemis 1 is expected to launch in November 2021.
Koch has already achieved many firsts with NASA. Earlier this year, she broke the record for NASA’s longest continuous spaceflight by a woman during a mission on the International Space Station. She spent 328 days in space. During that trip, she also completed the first all-woman spacewalk with astronaut Jessica Meir.
“It would be a great honor if I were to be selected to the Artemis team,” Koch told Sci NC during an interview this summer. “As much as I enjoy being back on Earth with my family and friends, I do miss space. As astronauts you need to be ready for any new assignment and be ready to start training, so it would be exciting to be part of this new adventure.”
That new adventure is scheduled to take place in 2024, with the first woman and next man landing on the moon. NASA said it's working towards establishing a "sustainable human lunar presence by the end of the decade".
“It’s time to explore. Come along,” Koch tweeted with the Artemis team announcement. You can hear more from Christina here:
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is a member of the Artemis Team, a select group of astronauts charged with focusing on the development and training efforts for early Artemis missions.
Through the Artemis program NASA and a coalition of international partners will return to the Moon to learn how to live on other worlds for the benefit of all. With Artemis missions NASA will send the first woman and the next man to the Moon in 2024 and about once per year thereafter.