The first woman to walk on the moon could be North Carolina astronaut Christina Koch
More than 50 years after the first person landed on the moon, NASA is planning to send a woman to explore the lunar surface, and North Carolina native Christina Koch could be the one making that historic step.
Koch, 41, is one of the 18 U.S. astronauts announced by NASA Wednesday who will train for the Artemis missions, which aim to get humans back on the moon by 2024.
Koch is an experienced astronaut who earlier this year broke the record for NASA’s longest continuous spaceflight by a woman. She completed the first all-woman spacewalk with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir on that trip. Koch’s time in space also coincided with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s lunar landing.
Now, she could hit another milestone as the first woman on the moon.
“It’s time to explore. Come along,” Koch tweeted Wednesday with the announcement of the Artemis team.
Koch is one of NASA’s 47 active astronauts who are eligible for flight assignments. Of the 18 selected to train for the mission to the moon, nine are women.
The upcoming mission to the moon is “incredibly exciting,” Koch told The News & Observer in a 2019 interview from the International Space Station, where she spent 328 days before returning to Earth in February.
“As astronauts, one of the things that we sign up for is to be ready for any eventuality, to be mentally ready for it and then to take on whatever training is required for that,” Koch said at the time.
“If that great honor were to be something I could contribute to in my own career, of course it would be my privilege,” Koch said. “And I would definitely partake in giving every bit of effort that I have.”
Growing up in North Carolina
Like many kids, Koch dreamed of becoming an astronaut in kindergarten while gazing up at the night sky through her family’s telescope in their backyard. But she never grew out of it.
“No one told me I couldn’t do it,” Koch said. “And so that dream kept right on growing and growing.”
Koch grew up in Jacksonville, and attended the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham, a high school that’s part of the UNC System.
She’s the first graduate of N.C. State University to go into space. There, she earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and electrical engineering and a master’s in electrical engineering. On Friday, she gave the commencement address at the university’s first virtual graduation ceremony.
North Carolina is also where Koch found her passion for photography, which has gained quite a following on Twitter and Instagram. She posts stunning photos of Earth and space taken from the International Space Station, as well as some selfies.
Artemis mission to the moon
The Artemis program will use innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, according to NASA. They will also “build sustainable elements on and around the Moon that allow our robots and astronauts” to conduct science investigations and technology experiments, the program says.
“Our goal is to go to the moon sustainably, to learn how to live and work on another world,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during the meeting of the National Space Council Wednesday, National Geographic reported.
NASA will collaborate with commercial and international partners on this mission, and some international astronauts will join the Artemis Team, according to NASA.
But NASA says this exploration and discovery “doesn’t stop on the moon, rather, it prepares humanity for our next giant leap, Mars.”
Koch previously told the News & Observer if it comes, she will be ready for that mission, too.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 5:28 PM with the headline "The first woman to walk on the moon could be North Carolina astronaut Christina Koch."
