{"id":83193,"date":"2026-03-30T17:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=83193"},"modified":"2026-03-30T17:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:02:15","slug":"woman-astronaut-set-record-longest-single-spaceflight-make-history-moon-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/woman-astronaut-set-record-longest-single-spaceflight-make-history-moon-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Astronaut Is Ready to Make History on Moon Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Artemis II crew (with Christina Koch third astronaut from left) pose before they take off for their mission around the moon. The crew includes two backup members. (Credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Astronaut Christina Koch is traveling farther in space than any woman has before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koch is part of NASA\u2019s four-person Artemis II crew that is blasting to outer space on Wednesday night, and she\u2019ll make history when she becomes the first woman to pass over the moon. In galactic terms, she\u2019d be the first woman to go beyond \u201clow Earth orbit,\u201d according to Space.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings are certainly starting to feel real,\u201d the Michigan native said during a news conference Sunday, according to the New York Times<\/a>. The mission will take Koch and her crewmates \u2014 Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency \u2014 on a 10-day tour around the moon, without landing, before heading back to Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s part of NASA\u2019s broader goal to test out the Orion spacecraft\u2019s life support systems for the first time and plan future missions to the moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quartet (Glover will be the first Black man and Hansen will be the first Canadian to do this type of mission) are quarantining at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the next couple days to ensure they don\u2019t get sick. There are two backup crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before this, Koch, 47, set a record for the longest single spaceflight<\/a> by a woman when she spent 328 days in space and participated in the first all-female spacewalk. She said recently that she wants this mission to help people see that they, too, can aspire to visit the moon one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is our strong hope that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth, can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination,\u201d Koch said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Things are starting to feel real,” says Christina Koch, who is poised to become the first woman to fly around the moon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":83194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2026-03-30T21:02:17+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mickpaoj4w2v","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mickpaoj4w2v\",\"cid\":\"bafyreigztfv4loig5lbb3ypiyfhcusazsxpp4mlxr5dtclxec4yafl5m4y\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreibvvc4gdz33zxzigoqngm2nsx2c2jel6hckgugeb7bdnthunsr3qy\",\"rev\":\"3mickpaotuo2v\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"},{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2026-03-30T21:02:20+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mickpe4inw2v","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mickpe4inw2v\",\"cid\":\"bafyreigztfv4loig5lbb3ypiyfhcusazsxpp4mlxr5dtclxec4yafl5m4y\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreidnjf7d6l6ruyh2tindghytnl3vvkysmnozqf4hptueireajdr5na\",\"rev\":\"3mickpe4zb62v\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[19724,19742,22636,19479,22635],"class_list":["post-83193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happening-now","tag-space-exploration","tag-stem-education","tag-women-astronauts","tag-women-in-science","tag-women-in-space"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWoman 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