Learn about Christina Koch — the NASA astronaut who spent 328 days in space, did the first all-female spacewalk, and is flying around the Moon in 2026! Quiz & games inside.
section into its own Gutenberg block • Paragraph blocks for all body text • Heading blocks for H2 / H3 • The Custom HTML block (at the bottom) = the interactive file ============================================================ –> Christina Koch: The Woman Who Is Flying Around the Moon Right Now!Something extraordinary is happening RIGHT NOW as you read this. A brave scientist named Christina Hammock Koch is hurtling through space at 17,500 miles per hour — heading towards the Moon! She blasted off on April 1, 2026 as part of NASA’s historic Artemis II mission, becoming the first woman in all of human history to travel to the Moon’s vicinity. But how did a curious girl from a small town in North Carolina end up making history 230,000 miles from Earth? Let us find out — from the very beginning!
From a Small Town to the StarsChristina was born on January 29, 1979, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina. As a little girl, she loved looking up at the stars from her backyard and asking big questions about the universe. She once said: “Looking up and seeing the stars in my backyard was a great source of inspiration. It reminded me how big the universe is.”
She was an incredible student who loved science and maths. She attended the prestigious North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, then went to NC State University where she earned TWO Bachelor’s degrees — in Electrical Engineering and Physics — plus a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. After university she worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, then did something wild and brave: she moved to one of the most remote, freezing places on Earth.
The Antarctica Adventure — Training for Space on EarthImagine spending months at the South Pole where temperatures drop to -80°C and the sun disappears for entire months! Christina worked at Antarctic and South Pacific research stations, even serving as station chief for NOAA in American Samoa. Completely isolated — a tiny team, no shops, limited communication. It sounds frightening, but Christina loved it. That experience of isolation, teamwork, and staying calm under pressure turned out to be the perfect training ground for space. Her professor at NC State, Dr Stephen Reynolds, who wrote her a letter of recommendation back in 1999, later joked: “I thought, yeah well that’s nice — every parent’s child wants to be an astronaut. Well, she went. So it’s been a trip ever since.”
Christina’s Timeline to the Moon1979 — Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
2001–2002 — Graduates NC State with two BSc degrees and an MSc in Electrical Engineering.
2002–2012 — Works at NASA Goddard; serves at Antarctic, Greenland and South Pacific research stations.
2013 — Selected as a NASA Astronaut from over 6,000 applicants — one of only 8 chosen!
March 2019 — Launches to the ISS on her first spaceflight (Expedition 59 / 60 / 61).
October 2019 — Performs the FIRST EVER all-female spacewalk with Jessica Meir!
February 2020 — Returns to Earth after record-breaking 328 days in space.
2024 — Receives the North Carolina Award — the state’s highest civilian honour.
🔴 April 1, 2026 — TODAY! — Launches on Artemis II, becoming the first woman to travel to the Moon’s vicinity. Mission is LIVE right now!
April 10, 2026 (expected) — Returns to Earth after 10 days in deep space.
The Story of the First All-Female SpacewalkOn October 18, 2019, Christina Koch and her fellow astronaut Jessica Meir floated outside the International Space Station — 400 kilometres above Earth. No solid ground under their feet. Just the vast, silent blackness of space all around them. They had to fix a broken battery charger unit on the outside of the Station, and the repair took over 7 hours!
But what made this moment different from every spacewalk in all of human history? For the very first time, both people outside the spacecraft were women. Christina later said she hoped one day it would just feel completely normal — because it should be. Science and space exploration belong to everyone.
Artemis II — Happening Right Now!On April 1, 2026, the giant orange-and-white SLS rocket — as tall as a 32-storey building — roared off its launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, generating a mind-blowing 8.8 million pounds of force. Christina and her three crewmates — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover (the first person of colour on a Moon mission!), and Jeremy Hansen of Canada (the first non-American!) — are riding inside the Orion capsule on a 10-day journey around the Moon.
On Day 6 of the mission (April 6), they will reach the Moon — coming as close as 4,000 miles from its ancient surface before swinging around it on a free-return trajectory and heading back home. They will return to Earth on approximately April 10. This journey will take them 252,000 miles from Earth — farther than any human being has ever been, breaking a record set by Apollo 13 back in 1970!
Mission commander Wiseman radioed back just minutes after launch: “We have a beautiful moonrise — we’re headed right at it.”
Christina’s Record-Breaking Achievements🌙 First woman to the Moon’s vicinity (2026) — On Artemis II she became the first woman ever to travel beyond Earth’s orbit.
📏 Farthest humans ever — Artemis II will travel 252,000 miles from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970.
🏆 Longest spaceflight by a woman — 328 consecutive days aboard the ISS (2019–2020).
👩🚀 First all-female spacewalk — October 18, 2019, with Jessica Meir, lasting over 7 hours.
🔬 Space science experiments — Hundreds of experiments studying how long spaceflight affects the human body — data essential for Mars missions.
💪 6 spacewalks — 42+ hours total — Six times floating in the void of space outside the ISS.
What Can We Learn from Christina?Christina Koch’s life is full of lessons for every one of us. She was rejected the first time she applied to be an astronaut — but she never gave up. She chose hard, unusual experiences like living in Antarctica when she could have played it safe. She believed science and engineering were for her, even when not many girls pursued those fields.
She has said: “I think my message is to always do the things that might even scare you — the things that intimidate you, the things you think are beyond your reach. Because when you achieve them, you learn the most about yourself and you bring the most back to the world.”
Right now, at this very moment, she is proving every one of those words — floating through deep space, heading to the Moon, making history for all of us. If she can do it, so can you.
Before going to space, Christina lived and worked in Antarctica — the coldest place on Earth, where temperatures drop to -80°C! She says that extreme isolation trained her perfectly for spaceflight.
Christina applied to NASA’s astronaut programme twice before being selected! In 2013 she was chosen from over 6,000 applicants — only 8 people were picked that year.
During her record 328 days aboard the ISS, Christina orbited Earth approximately 5,248 times and travelled around 223 million kilometres — nearly the same as flying to the Moon and back 290 times!
Astronauts on the ISS exercise for 2 hours every single day — because in zero gravity muscles and bones weaken very quickly. Christina’s 328-day mission gave scientists vital data for planning future trips to Mars!
On April 1, 2026, the Artemis II rocket blasted off generating 8.8 million pounds of force — making Christina Koch the first woman ever to travel to the Moon’s vicinity! The crew will travel 252,000 miles from Earth — farther than any human in history.
Christina Koch Quiz!
6 questions — including 2 brand-new Artemis II ones. What’s your score?
1. When did the Artemis II rocket launch?
2. How many days did Christina spend on the ISS to break the women’s spaceflight record?
3. Who was Christina’s partner in the first all-female spacewalk?
4. How far from Earth will Artemis II travel at its farthest point?
5. How many pounds of force did the SLS rocket produce at liftoff?
6. What remote place on Earth did Christina work at before becoming an astronaut?
Word Scramble!
All words from Christina’s story. Press Enter or click Check!
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Akanksha Srivastava is a science educator with a deep commitment to making learning feel like discovery rather than duty. With a background in classroom teaching and science education, she has spent years watching the exact moment when a complicated idea finally clicks for a young student — and has dedicated her writing to recreating that moment for every child who reads her work. At Kids Science Magazine, Akanksha covers the stories of history’s greatest scientists, bringing their human struggles, unlikely breakthroughs, and extraordinary curiosity to life in a way that makes young readers see science not as a subject but as an adventure anyone can join. She also curates the magazine’s evergreen science news — selecting discoveries and developments that matter most to young learners and explaining them with the clarity and warmth of a teacher who genuinely loves her subject. Published every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
