Christina Koch

Christina Koch (born January 29, 1979, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.) is an American astronaut who became the first woman to travel around the Moon when she flew as a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission (April 1–10, 2026). She and the other crew members also set a record for the farthest distance traveled by humans in space: 406,771 km (252,756 miles). In addition, Koch holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman, having spent 328 days on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019–20.

Early life and education

Koch was raised in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and spent summers on her grandparents’ farm in Michigan. Even as a young child, Koch knew she wanted to be an astronaut. In a NASA interview before launch, she said “I loved things that made me feel small. I loved looking at the night sky, oftentimes between the pine-tree branches.” She added “I always say to people, ‘Do what scares you.’ ” As she got older, she took math and science classes to help her reach her goal. She also went several times to Space Camp—a STEM program that includes astronaut training—in Huntsville, Alabama.

Koch attended North Carolina State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2001 and a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 2002. She also studied abroad at the University of Ghana.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

First jobs

In 2002 Koch began working as an electrical engineer at the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She then joined the United States Antarctic Program and spent a year at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. In 2007 Koch joined the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, where she worked on instruments for space probes such as the Jupiter orbiter Juno. In the following years she did fieldwork in remote scientific bases in Alaska, Greenland, and American Samoa.

Astronaut: ISS and Artemis II

Koch was selected as an astronaut in 2013. She had her first spaceflight in March 2019, when she traveled to the ISS on the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-12. She made six spacewalks, including the first three all-woman spacewalks, with Jessica Meir. She returned to Earth in February 2020 after 328 days in space.

In 2023 Koch was selected as a mission specialist for the Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight of the Artemis program. The crew also consisted of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Jr., and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. The four astronauts flew around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft and set the record for humans journeying the farthest from Earth, reaching a distance of 406,771 km (252,756 miles). However, Koch may be best remembered for the essential work she did early in the mission: fixing the stopped up toilet on the spacecraft.  “I’m the space plumber,” she said, later telling NBC that “being human up here is one of the coolest things about this mission.”

Artemis II was the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972, and it will pave the way for the Artemis IV mission, which is planned to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Personal life

She is married Robert “Bob” Koch, a geospatial engineer. The couple met while both were working in American Samoa.