HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – The mission will take place in April, but NASA astronaut Christina Koch’s colleagues think Women’s History Month is the perfect time to highlight what she’s up to.
In April, NASA plans to return to the moon with astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission. One of the crew members is Christina Koch, who will be a mission specialist.
It’s a role that retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson hopes will inspire a new generation.
“For young girls, I think it’s important to see someone like them doing and achieving these things that have never been accomplished before,” Whitson said.
Going to the moon is nothing new for NASA astronauts. 24 of them flew to the Moon during the Apollo missions.
While the missions were different, one thing remained the same: all the astronauts were men. More than 50 years later, that is set to change.
Koch will be the first woman to travel to the moon. An accomplishment that Whitson has longed to see.
“I’m thrilled to be back on the moon, and I expect there will be women as part of all of these missions because we have so many qualified female astronauts,” Whitson explained.
“There’s nothing better than Whitson,” Koch said. She knows this firsthand.
Whitson, who is currently vice president of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, has spent more time in space than any other woman. She holds the longest continuous record for women’s spaceflight. That changed when Koch broke it.
NASA’s pioneering astronaut, Peggy Whitson, has worked for more than 25 years with the organization. She spent a total of 695 days in space, more than any other American or woman.
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“We and I have a similar mindset that this is really important; we’re not going to get ahead if we don’t break these records,” Whitson said. “I know she’s looking forward to the next record.”
NASA flight director Paul Cuniha has a front-row seat to witness the next record.
“Even though she may be the first woman to do this, she’s just an amazing astronaut,” Kuniha explained. “We shouldn’t waste this. The fact that she was chosen because she’s really good.”
Kunya will work in mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston while Koch travels to the moon. Kuniha said Koch is now focused on the mission, but he believes she also understands the seriousness of the situation.
“I think she’ll think about it afterward and be able to put it right when she comes back and probably won’t think about it too much until then,” Kunha said.
We asked NASA if we could talk to Koch. However, as the Artemis mission approached, we were told it was unavailable.
After returning to Earth from her record-breaking space mission six years ago, we spoke to her about this historic achievement.
“My main message to anyone with a dream is to follow your passion, be true to yourself, do what you love, and live the life you envisioned for yourself,” Koch said in 2020.
Mission specialist Christina Koch and a crew member on NASA’s new moon rocket, Artemis 2, answer questions during a news conference at Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 17, 2026.
AP Photo/John Rao
Koch spent more than 300 days in space to set her previous record. This time, NASA said that the Artemis 2 mission may not last more than ten days.
Although the length is shorter, the scale of what you are about to do, Whitson says, is greater than anything before.
“It’s very important to prove to young people that they too can break records, and with enough effort and determination they can achieve amazing things that they didn’t necessarily dream of,” Whitson said.
That’s why Whitson said Artemis 2’s mission is much bigger than just returning to the moon; It’s also about who’s going there.
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