Astronaut Christina Koch Breaks Record For Longest Female Space Flight

NASA took the time to brag on one of its astronauts not long ago for setting a record for space flight duration. NASA Astronaut Christina Koch has set a record for the longest space flight by a woman after spending 288 days in orbit. That eclipses the record set by former station commander Peggy Whitson.Koch will remain on the space station for a few more months as she is scheduled to arrive back on Earth in February 2020. She will have spent more than 300-days in space when she arrives back on Earth. The image above shows Koch in September 2019 in the ISS cupola.

The image was taken while the Cygnus cargo craft was docked, and she and another astronaut were practicing for capturing the Dragon spacecraft using the robotic arm of the space station. Koch says that soon the station will capture the HTV Japanese cargo spacecraft, and the station will have seen the trifecta of cargo spacecraft at that time.

Koch was selected to be an astronaut by NASA in 2013. She is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Physics with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.

She has been part of Expedition 59, 60, and 61. NASA says when she returns to Earth, she will have spent a total of 328 days in space. Koch was also part of the first all-female spacewalk in October. Recently the Boeing Starliner failed to reach the correct orbit to make its scheduled docking with the ISS.