Astronaut Christina Koch to be first woman to go to Moon

Astronaut Christina Hammock Koch will become the first woman to go around the Moon ever since humanity began exploring the lunar world. US space agency Nasa announced that Koch will be the mission specialist when four humans board the Orion spacecraft for a trip around the Moon.

So far, only male astronauts have been to lunar orbit and on the surface. The new mission marks the first arrival of a woman astronaut in the realm of the Moon. Nasa announced that Koch will be joined by astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman on the 10-day-long mission around the moon.

“It is an honour to be here. When I think about this mission, it’s so awesome in itself. We are going to ride the world’s most powerful rocket and we will reach peaks of thousands of miles and test all the systems and then we will head to the Moon,” Koch said after her name was announced. She added that they are going to carry the world’s excitement, aspirations and dreams with us on this mission to the Moon.

The announcement officially kicks off the preparation for the 10-day-long Artemis-II mission, which will bring humanity one step closer to landing on the Moon again since the Apollo missions. The last time humans walked on the Moon was in 1972 when Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan left his footprints on Earth’s natural satellite.