Christina Koch is a NASA astronaut that has finally returned to earth on February 6th, 2020 after coming back from the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Koch left on her mission to the International Space Station on March 14, 2019 and lasted 328 consecutive days in Space. Koch has broken the record of longest amount of days in space which was held by Peggy Whitson that previously lasted 288 days. Koch’s mission is also the second-longest single spaceflight by a US astronaut.

In Koch’s mission she orbited the earth 5,248 times, went on six spacewalks, and spent a total of 42 hours and 15 minutes outside the station. NASA has commented that this mission will help them prepare for there mission to Mars.”Koch’s extended mission will provide researchers the opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman as the agency plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars,” stated NASA. NASA wants to learn everything on what a long duration in space does to the body if they plan to return to the Moon in 2024 and eventually to Mars.

Koch has returned to her home back in Texas and is already thinking whats next for her. She hopes she gets a chance for another mission and perhaps even break her record. Koch stated in a press conference in December, “My number one hope for this milestone is that the record is exceeded again as soon as possible.” She wants her record to be broken because it shows that we’re continuing to push the boundaries on space exploration.