NASA astronaut Christina Koch is making history as the first woman to travel around the moon.
Koch, 47, is among the four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission, which lifted off Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a 10-day journey.
The 685,000-mile journey, a lunar fly-by, marks the first time in more than 50 years that American astronauts will orbit the moon.
In addition to Koch, the mission includes fellow NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Koch, who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, is no stranger to record-setting NASA missions.
Koch was first selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. In December 2019, she set the record for set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 consecutive days in space, according to NASA, and was part of the first all-female spacewalk in October 2019 with Jessica Meir.
Koch subsequently completed two more all-female spacewalks, "totaling 42 hours and 15 minutes," according NASA.
The Artemis II mission specialist previously worked on the International Space Station for the majority of 2019 in Expeditions 59, 60 and 61, NASA states.
"Some of the scientific highlights from her missions include doing robotics for upgrades to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, growing protein crystals for pharmaceutical research, and testing 3D biological printers in microgravity," her official bio notes.
Prior to her Artemis II assignment, Koch served as branch chief over the Assigned Crew Branch in NASA's Astronaut Office "and did a rotation as Assistant for Technical Integration for the Center Director at NASA's Johnson Space Center," according to her bio.
Before becoming an Astronaut, Koch's engineering background included "space science mission instrument development and remote scientific field engineering in the Antarctic and Arctic," additionally serving on the firefighting and search and rescue teams at Antarctica's Admunsen-Scott South Pole Station and Palmer Station.
Koch earned Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and physics, as well as a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Koch is also an active hobbyist with interests spanning surfing and ice climbing to woodworking and community service, according to her official NASA bio.
