Christina Kochis back on Earth after months of making giant leaps for female astronauts in space.
On Thursday, the U.S. astronaut, 41, landed safely in Kazakhstan with astronauts Luca Parmitano (of the European Space Agency) and Alexandr Skvortsov (of Russia) — all of whom had been staying at the International Space Station, according toABC News.
The return home marked the end of a record-setting stay at the ISS for Koch, who was stationed there for 328 consecutive days. Her nearly 11-month mission became the longest spaceflight for a woman, after shesurpassed the previous recordof 289 days back in December.
In other celestial milestones, Koch also participated in thefirst-ever all-female spacewalk, along with Jessica Meir. Back in October, the two scientists had to venture outside the ISS to fix a power controller, making history in the process.
Koch — who documented her out-of-this-world journey onsocial media— shared a photo of some of her fellow crew mates on Instagram, shortly before she parted ways with them.
“I’m going to miss this bunch. Thank you, space family. #Expedition61,” shecaptionedthe zero-gravity friend photo.
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SERGEI ILNITSKY/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
According toNASA, the only other American astronaut to complete a longer continuous spaceflight wasScott Kelly, who clocked in 340 days.
On March 14, Koch arrived at the ISS for Day 1 of her now-concluded mission.
It was a momentous day she said she won’t soon forget.
“That was the day that I have seared in my memory,” she said, according toNASA. “Visions from when I first arrived here. … I’m very privileged to have that as one of my favorite memories.”
Christina Koch.Bill Ingalls/AP/Shutterstock
Christina Koch.
Recalling her first time conducting a spacewalk back in March, Koch said it was gratifying: “At that moment, I just felt like everything I had ever worked for, everything I had ever loved, everything I had ever wanted to contribute to my entire life was just culminating in that moment.”
Koch’s mission, according to ABC News, will help researchers better understand the effects of space-living on the female body, cluing scientists in on future plans for longterm deep-space exploration.
Recapping her experience toNASA, Koch marveled at how her body and mind adapted to her environment, so much so that she had “actually forgotten that [she] was floating.”
“It’s been a huge surprise to see that life up here can actually become normal because of what our bodies can adapt to,” she said.
source: people.com
