My feed and stories have been flooded for the past few weeks with news on NASA’s Artemis II mission, and I can’t help but wonder who the badass woman with the wild curls and big eyeglasses floating around the moon is.
Hearing that she’s the first woman to reach the moon really set in how extraordinary she is. I was born too late for the Apollo missions, but just in time to witness this moment in feminist history.
ORIGIN: Michigan, USA
Michigan-born, North Carolina-raised, Christina Koch (pronounced “cook”) has been making international headlines for the past few weeks. Koch has set a new standard for STEM girls, making sure everyone knows that she belongs where she is and isn’t a stranger in a room (or spaceship) full of men.
Born to be a trailblazer, Koch’s childhood was filled with outdoor activities and a lifelong love of the night sky. She was the typical five-year-old who told her kindergarten teacher they wanted to be an astronaut, but she actually became one.
She graduated from North Carolina State University with two bachelor’s degrees, one in physics and the second in electrical engineering. She attained her master’s in electrical engineering just a year later.
Her resume is a long list of positions, including educator, electrical engineer, research associate at the South Pole, field engineer, and, most recently, Mission Specialist for NASA’s Artemis II program.
From 328 Days in Space to Flying Around the Moon
On March 14, 2019, Koch launched to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission, unaware it would become a major milestone. She ended up staying on the ISS for 328 consecutive days after NASA approved an extension. That’s close to a full year, completely shattering the previous record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
During that time, she didn’t just float around looking out windows (though the views are undeniably unbeatable).
Koch participated in over 210 scientific investigations, including research on bone and muscle degradation in space, the development of cancer treatments through protein experiments in microgravity, and studies on how long-duration spaceflight affects the female body specifically. Her extended mission to help NASA build the roadmap for what came next: going even farther.
She didn’t stop there, though. On April 1, Koch launched as a mission specialist on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed mission to travel beyond the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Alongside her crew, she flew around the Moon in a 10-day mission that set a new record for the farthest distance any human has ever traveled from Earth.
Koch became the first woman to journey beyond low Earth orbit. Her reaction while up in space? Crediting the entire team instead of talking about herself and calling the achievement an “incredible privilege and responsibility.”
Redefining What’s Possible for Women in STEM
Christina Koch is an assumption breaker. For decades, the public mostly saw military-aged men aboard NASA spacecraft, beginning with the Apollo missions. Fast forward a couple of years, and Koch’s presence at the forefront of NASA’s most ambitious missions in a generation powerfully dismantles that image.
She represents a generation of women who have been told, time and time again, that they don’t belong in some of the hardest engineering and science fields.
Women make up about 28.2% of the STEM workforce. As you’d imagine, in Koch’s fields of engineering and physics, that number drops even lower. When asked about being the only woman in the room at times, Koch spoke openly about the importance of visibility: “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Her efforts to exist at one of the highest levels in her respective fields have already made sure that young women and girls looking up at the night sky believe they can make it up there, too.
Thanks to Koch and other female astronauts, we can now study how spaceflight affects women’s bodies, data that had been largely absent from the scientific record. By spending 328 days in space, Koch didn’t just set a record; she generated knowledge that will protect every woman who follows her into deep space. She’s making the future safer for the next generation of female astronauts.
Koch has also been intentional about crediting the women who came before her. She has cited Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, along with Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, as personal heroes. That lineage matters. Feminism isn’t a solo mission but rather one that builds on all of our efforts.
Most powerful, though, is how Koch wears none of this heavily. She doesn’t position herself as a symbol or a spokesperson. She positions herself as an engineer, a scientist, and an explorer who happens to be a woman. That, arguably, is the most feminist thing of all: not needing the narrative of exceptionalism to justify her place in the room. She’s there because she earned it.
Not only has Koch broken glass ceilings and set a precedent for young girls everywhere, but she’s also shown that no dream is too big and no ambition is too grand.
Believe in yourself, ladies, and who knows, maybe one day you’ll be flying to the moon. Dream big and dream loud, you can do anything you put your mind to, the sky’s the limit, or in this case, the moon!
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