Christina Koch | |
|---|---|
 Koch in 2023 | |
| Born | Christina Hammock (1979-01-29)January 29, 1979 (age 46) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | North Carolina State University (BS,MS) |
| Spouse | Robert Koch |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 328 days, 13 hours, 58 minutes |
| Selection | NASA Group 21 (2013) |
TotalEVAs | 6 |
Total EVA time | 42 hours, 15 minutes |
| Missions | Soyuz MS-12/MS-13 (Expedition 59/60/61) |
Mission insignia |    |
Christina Koch (/kʊk/COOK;néeHammock; born January 29, 1979) is an Americanengineer andNASA astronaut of the class of 2013.[1][2] She received Bachelor of Science degrees inelectrical engineering andphysics and a Master of Science in electrical engineering atNorth Carolina State University.[3] She also did advanced study while working at theGoddard Space Flight Center. Just before becoming an astronaut, she served at theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as station chief forAmerican Samoa.[4]
On March 14, 2019, Koch launched to theInternational Space Station as a flight engineer onExpedition 59,60, and61. On October 18, 2019, she andJessica Meir were the first women to participate in an all-femalespacewalk to replace a down power control unit located outside of the International Space Station.[5][6] On December 28, 2019, Koch broke the record for longest continuous time in space by a woman.[7] She returned from space on February 6, 2020.[8]
Koch was selected as part of the crew for theArtemis II flight, which intends to circle the Moon in 2026 which, if successful, will make her the first woman to travel beyondlow Earth orbit.
Koch was included inTime's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[9]
Christina was born inGrand Rapids, Michigan,[10] and raised inJacksonville, North Carolina,[11] by parents Barbara Johnsen ofFrederick, Maryland, and Ronald Hammock of Jacksonville.[12] Koch's childhood dream was to become an astronaut.[13]
Koch graduated from theNorth Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham in 1997, and then enrolled atNorth Carolina State University in Raleigh, from which she earned two Bachelor of Science degrees, inelectrical engineering andphysics (2001), and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering (2002).[14][12] In 2001, she became a graduate of the NASA Academy program at theGoddard Space Flight Center.[12]
.jpg)
Koch has worked in the space science instrument development and remote scientific field engineering fields. During her time working as an electrical engineer at NASA GSFC's Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, she contributed to scientific instruments on several NASA missions that studiedastrophysics andcosmology.[12] During this time, she also served as Adjunct Faculty atMontgomery College in Maryland and led a Physics Laboratory course.[12]
Koch worked as a Research Associate in theUnited States Antarctic Program from 2004 to 2007, spending three-and-a-half years traveling the Arctic and Antarctic regions.[12][15] She completed a winter-over season at theAmundsen–Scott South Pole Station where she experienced minus-111 degree Fahrenheit (-79.4 C) temperatures.[15] She completed an additional season atPalmer Station. While in Antarctica, Koch served as a member of the Firefighting Teams and Ocean/Glacier Search and Rescue Teams.[12] She has described her time in the South Pole as challenging mentally and physically:[15] "[This] means going months without seeing the sun, with the same crew, and without shipments of mail or fresh food. The isolation, absence of family and friends, and lack of new sensory inputs are all conditions that you must find a strategy to thrive within."[16]
From 2007 to 2009, Koch worked as an Electrical Engineer in the Space Department of theApplied Physics Laboratory atJohns Hopkins University focusing on space science instrument development.[12] She contributed to instruments studying radiation particles for NASA missions, including theJuno andVan Allen Probes.[12] The following year, Koch completed tours of Palmer Station in Antarctica and multiple winter seasons atSummit Station in Greenland.[12] In 2012, she worked at theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in two capacities: first as a Field Engineer at NOAA's Global Monitoring Division Baseline Observatory inBarrow Alaska (nowUtqiaġvik), and then as Station Chief of theAmerican Samoa Observatory.[12]
Koch graduated from theNASA Academy program at GSFC in 2001. She worked as an Electrical Engineer in the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics at GSFC from 2002 to 2004.[17]
In June 2013, Koch was selected byNASA as part ofAstronaut Group 21. She completed training in July 2015, making her available for future missions.[2] Her Astronaut Candidate Training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training,T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training.[12]
On March 14, 2019, Koch launched to theInternational Space Station onSoyuz MS-12, alongsideAleksey Ovchinin andNick Hague, to join theExpedition 59/60/61 crew.[18]
Koch was scheduled to perform her first EVA on March 29; this would have been the first all-female spacewalk alongsideAnne McClain, but spacesuit sizing issues resulted in it being reassigned from McClain to Hague.[19] Koch performed the first all-female spacewalk withJessica Meir on October 18, as part of a lengthy series of upgrades to the ISS' power systems and physics observatories.[20][21][22] Koch and Meir followed the historic walk with two more female team walks in January 2020.[8]
On April 17, 2019, due to reassignment schedules with theCommercial Crew Development program, Koch's mission was extended to February 2020. She returned to Earth on February 6 after 328 days – the longest single continuous stay in space for a woman, exceedingPeggy Whitson's 289 days.[23] In addition, for a first-time astronaut, this NASA mission change has never happened before.[24][25][26] Koch's extended mission is being used to study the physical, biological, and mental effects of long-term space travel on women.[27]
Koch was selected as one of the crew members forNASA's upcoming Artemis program, slated for 2025.[28]On April 3, 2023, she was announced as a mission specialist in theArtemis II crew, which plans to fly around the Moon in mid to late 2026, traveling 6,400 miles beyond the Moon's far side before returning to Earth.[29][30] She will be joined by NASA astronautsReid Wiseman,Victor Glover, andCanadian Space Agency astronautJeremy Hansen.[29]
Koch resides inTexas with her husband, Robert Koch.[3] She enjoysbackpacking,rock climbing,paddling,sailing,running,yoga,community service,photography,surfing andtravel.[12]
Koch has won a number of awards during her tenure at NASA and Johns Hopkins, including theNASA Group Achievement Award, NASA Juno Mission Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument, 2012; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Invention of the Year nominee, 2009;United States Congress Antarctic Service Medal with Winter-Over distinction, 2005; NASA Group Achievement Award,NASA Suzaku Mission X-ray Spectrometer Instrument, 2005; Astronaut Scholar, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, 2000 to 2001.[12]
In December 2020, Koch was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from her alma mater,North Carolina State University.[31]
NASA Astronaut Group 20 ← NASA Astronaut Group 21 →NASA Astronaut Group 22 | |||||||
| |||||||
