Christina Koch Becomes First Woman to Orbit the Moon
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is making history this week as the first woman to orbit the moon on the Artemis II mission. The achievement comes as NASA's newest astronaut class includes six women out of 10, the first time women have outnumbered men since the program began in 1959.
For the first time in over five decades, NASA astronauts are heading back to the moon, and Christina Koch is leading the way as the first woman ever to orbit it.
Koch will launch this week aboard the Artemis II mission, a 10-day journey covering 685,000 miles around the moon. She'll be joined by three male astronauts: Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
The engineer and explorer already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days. She also participated in the first all-female spacewalk during her time on the International Space Station.
"It feels like an incredible privilege and responsibility," Koch told Space.com about the upcoming mission. But she's quick to point out that this milestone belongs to more than just her.
"The accomplishment that we can celebrate together is that we got here," she explained. "Decades ago, we made the right decisions so that our astronaut corps brings diverse backgrounds together to solve the hardest problems."
The Artemis II mission will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and could pave the way for future lunar missions, possibly even a permanent moon base.
The Ripple Effect
Koch's journey reflects a broader shift at NASA. In September 2025, the space agency announced its 10 newest astronauts, and six of them are women. This marks the first time women have outnumbered men in an astronaut class since NASA began accepting applications in 1959.
Among the new recruits is Anna Menon, who already made history as part of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission. She and her crewmate set a new record for the highest altitude reached by any female astronaut.
"Space is the ultimate team sport," Menon said. "It takes people from around the world with so many different cultures, and especially so many different areas of expertise, coming together to explore the stars."
More than 8,000 people applied for the latest astronaut class, including scientists, pilots, engineers, and dreamers from across the nation. Sean Duffy, the acting NASA administrator, noted that one of these 10 could become among the first Americans to walk on Mars.
As Koch prepares to orbit the moon this week, she's opening doors that will inspire the next generation of space explorers to reach even further.
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Based on reporting by Good Good Good
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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