Meet Christina Koch: First woman to orbit the moon and a former University of Ghana student

Christina Hammock Koch, the NASA astronaut who spent time as a student at the University of Ghana, has made history as the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit and orbit the Moon. A distinguished explorer and engineer, Koch is currently serving as Mission Specialist I for NASA’s Artemis II mission.

The mission officially began on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, when NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT, commencing its journey to deep space.

Her role on this mission continues a career marked by record-breaking accomplishments, including spending 328 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and participating in the first all-female spacewalks.

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Koch is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before residing in Livingston, Montana at the time of her selection to the NASA Astronaut Corps. Summers spent on her family farm instilled a strong work ethic and a love for challenges. Her hobbies include surfing, rock and ice climbing, programming, yoga, triathlons, backpacking, woodworking, photography, and travel.

She earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and physics, as well as a Master of Science in electrical engineering, from North Carolina State University. During her studies, she also spent time at the University of Ghana, gaining international academic experience. She attended North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham and White Oak High School in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and later received an honorary PhD from North Carolina State University.

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Before joining NASA, Koch gained extensive experience in space science instrument development and remote field engineering. She began her career as an electrical engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, contributing to several space science missions. She later worked with the United States Antarctic Program, including a yearlong winter-over at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and a season at Palmer Station, participating in firefighting and search-and-rescue teams.

Koch also worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on missions including Juno and the Van Allen Probes. She later joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, serving as a field engineer in Utqiagvik, Alaska, and as station chief of the American Samoa Observatory. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in technical instructing, volunteer tutoring, and educational outreach.

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Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013, Koch completed her Astronaut Candidate training in 2015. She was assigned to her first spaceflight in 2018, a long-duration mission on the ISS. Following this, she served as Branch Chief of the Assigned Crew Branch in the Astronaut Office and later as Assistant for Technical Integration for the Center Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Koch launched on March 14, 2019, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft with Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA Astronaut Nick Hague. She returned on February 6, 2020, on the MS-13 Soyuz with Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov and ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano. During her time on the ISS for Expeditions 59, 60, and 61, Koch conducted hundreds of scientific experiments, including robotics upgrades for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, protein crystal growth for pharmaceutical research, and testing 3D biological printers in microgravity. She completed six spacewalks, including the first three all-female spacewalks, totalling over 42 hours.

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Koch has received numerous awards and honours, including the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (2020), the Astronautics Engineer Award from the National Space Club & Foundation (2020), and the Global ATHENA Leadership Award (2020). She also earned the United States Congress Antarctic Service Medal with Winter-Over distinction (2005) and several NASA Group Achievement Awards for her contributions to space missions.

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Christina Koch continues to inspire generations of aspiring astronauts, scientists, and engineers. With the successful launch of Artemis II, she is poised to make history as the first woman to land on the moon, further cementing her legacy as a trailblazer in space exploration and a symbol of perseverance, skill, and global collaboration.