If you think about it, every astronaut getting on a rocket is basically the result of the ultimate group project. They are standing on this massive foundation of collective effort. They could not be there without the farmers who grew their food, or the teachers who encouraged them to pursue science in the first place, or the thousands of engineers pulling all-nighters to design the technology. You also have to factor in the sci-fi writers and artists who made us want to explore the stars. So yeah, astronauts are the pinnacle of human achievement; it is the ultimate test of human ability and power, uplifting what our species can achieve. But at the end of the day, their success is realized within the rest of society.
It’s honestly been a long time since I’ve felt such a genuine level of excitement regarding NASA’s roadmap, but the Artemis II mission has shifted my perspective. For the longest time growing up, I wanted to be an astronaut, and I considered the possibility of exploring space. This eventually shifted to wanting to be an aerospace engineer, and now I intend to practice medicine, but that does not change my love for the space game. For a while, space exploration felt like it had settled into a routine of orbital maintenance and robotic probes, which, while important, don’t capture the collective imagination in quite the same way. There is something different about Artemis II; maybe it is the realization that we are finally moving past the theoretical and “slingshotting” ourselves back into deep space. Seeing the testing and the crew being finalized makes a multi-planetary future feel less like a distant “someday”. There is finally a somewhat tangible reality that we may be lucky enough to witness, and there is one astronaut up there that is bringing me back to care about “it all” again. Her name is Christina Koch.
Christina Koch, the NASA astronaut who I cheered on all those years ago after being in the international space station for so long. She is the woman who started off as a rock climber, a surfer, and now has just completed her first ever lunar mission; correction, the first woman ever to be on a lunar mission, let alone, further than any other female astronaut from the earth.Â
Her role in Artemis II isn’t just a milestone; it’s a historic moment for her own agency and the world. What an incredible crossover between space and womankind; maybe this is meant to be our vast role in the cosmos. She is an inspiration to so many.
But even before Artemis, Koch was already redefining what it means to be an astronaut. She holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days on the ISS, and she was part of the first all-female spacewalk. How did she get to that point? Well, she isn’t just a pilot, she is an electrical engineer who spent years doing field research from the South Pole to the Arctic.
Her career is a perfect example of that “ultimate human ability”, but so is her life. And of course, there are those who inspired her, other scientists who often go unnoticed in society until they are brought to the public eye. When asked who inspires me most, I almost always mention Katherine Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan because I look up to them every day for getting the privilege to study biochemistry in college and go on to work in science. Christina Koch feels very similarly. She reminds us that even the most groundbreaking achievements are part of a much longer timeline. While Katherine Johnson’s math was the silence behind the Apollo missions and Dorothy Vaughan was the reason NASA transitioned into the computer age, their stories were overlooked or “hidden; thank you Margot Lee Shetterly and Theodore Melfi for initially bringing them to light. By citing them as her own inspirations, Koch bridges the gap between the women who were denied the spotlight and the modern explorers who are now carrying that legacy back to the Moon. Technical skills are one thing, but being the right person, the right leader, and paying it forward, is another.
What makes Christina so compelling, though, is that she is grounded, an adrenaline junkie, and a creator. She’s into everything from rock climbing and surfing to woodworking and photography. It’s cool to think that the same person who just orbited the Moon also spends her downtime backpacking or playing the guitar and piano; I have so many similar hobbies except for the whole astronaut thing, but the point is, she is just like you and I.
Yes, she has lived a life that most people would find terrifying. She has this “do what scares you” philosophy that feels natural. She represents this perfect mix of high-level technical skill and genuine, human warmth. She’s proof that you can be at the top of a field and still be someone who values community, creativity, and a good challenge outside.
Living life with Christina Koch’s rose-colored glasses means I’ve stopped looking at challenges as things to avoid and started seeing them as the whole point. I try not to feel that internal flinch before a decision, I just do because we must grow. I grow curiously and with the journey, and I note that one solo achievement is built on all those who came before you.
As I write this on April 10th, while she is walking off that spacepad today, she is blending technical brilliance with a high-stakes, adventurous spirit. She proves that being an astronaut isn’t just about the glory of the mission, but about having the grit and the curiosity to push the boundaries of where humans can actually exist. A living, breathing blueprint that I, and so many other young women, will look up to.