For the first time, a female astronaut has been sent by NASA for a lunar mission, along with an African-American colleague. It’s not too early.
Remember her name: Christina Koch. This 44-year-old engineer is none other than the first female astronaut sent for a lunar mission by at NASA. She has precisely been appointed specialist of the Artemis II mission, and will fly in particular in the company of the African-American aviator Victor Glover.
Simply historic nominations, shared on April 3 by the famous space agency. Christina Koch is not just anyone since in addition to this “very first” status, she holds the record for the longest continuous space flight by a woman: 328.5 days for a single mission, in 2019- 2020.
The engineer also, alongside Jessica Meir, performed the first all-female spacewalk – in other words, outdoor exploration outside of a space vehicle. What to impress the public present during the televised press conference organized on April 3 in Houston, at the Johnson Space Center.
For the flight in question, we will still have to wait a little bit, however: it will take place in November 2024 aboard the Orion capsule. For 10 days, Christina Koch and her colleagues will travel in space…
“You are paving a stellar path for the next generation”
And his presence has greatly enthusiastic star enthusiasts of all kinds. It suffices to be convinced of this to read the reactions on NASA’s Twitter. We find there in particular the words of encouragement of a certain Thomas Pesquet: “Go Christina!”, unchecks the French astronaut. Simple but effective.
The Canadian Space Agency has meanwhile split an admiring message: “Congratulations! You are opening a stellar path for the next generation of space explorers”. A model to follow for all those who dream of one day touching the skies too.
For the specialized site Sky and space, it is a simply historic mission, lunar expeditions of astronauts being rare on the side of the space agency: “Nasa had probably not experienced a similar moment since August 13, 1971”, rejoices The media. In other words, the date corresponding to the Apollo 15 flight, the fifth mission with the objective of depositing a crew on the surface of the Moon.
Note that within the Artemis II mission, raises Le Monde, we can also count on the presence of Jeremy Hansen, another name to remember since he is none other than the first Canadian to have been chosen for a flight to the Moon.
In recent years, space missions have become more and more inclusive, and that’s good. We remember that last year, American astronaut and geologist Jessica Watkins thus became the first black woman to join a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), investing the SpaceX Crew-4 mission as a crew member, along with two other astronauts.