'So Proud Of Her': How An Artemis Astronaut Is Linked To MD

ANNE ARUNDEL CO., MD — Astronaut Christina Koch is being celebrated in the county for her role in the historic Artemis II flyby mission around the moon.

Although Koch is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, her ties to Maryland run deep.

After graduating from the NASA Academy program in Greenbelt in 2001, she went on to develop space science instruments at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel.

Teaching stints saw her lead a physics laboratory course at Montgomery College and volunteer as a science and math tutor at Anne Arundel Community College, according to America Space.

While living in Anne Arundel County, she became a member of the Severn Sailing Association and sailed a Snipe-class boat.

The Boatyard Bar & Grill highlighted Koch's time in the Annapolis area, describing her as a "loyal" customer.

An image shared by the restaurant showed Koch holding a Boatyard burgee while she was stationed in Antarctica.

"This picture hangs near the bar close to the kitchen door," reads the post. "She has an amazing story and we and nation are so proud of her."

Koch went on to be accepted as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and traveled to the International Space Station in 2019 as part of Expeditions 59, 60 and 61.

It was during Koch's nearly yearlong stay on the ISS that she also made history as one-half of the first all-female spacewalk. Koch marked the milestone alongside fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir on Oct. 18, 2019.

Artemis Mission Around The Moon

Koch, along with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen, was named as part of the Artemis mission in April 2023.

Leading the team is Wiseman, who has his own ties to the Old Line State. He is a Cockeysville native who graduated from Dulaney High School in 1993.

Related: MD Native Leads NASA's Manned Moon Mission

The team and program made history this week when the four-person crew completed a successful lunar flyby. It was the first time since the 1970s that a manned mission was carried out.

The mission not only stole headlines for breaking the distance record set by the Apollo 13 crew, but it also grabbed attention after Hansen announced the team's request to name one of two unnamed craters after Wiseman's wife, Carroll, who died from cancer in 2020.

"It's a bright spot on the moon and we would like to call it Carroll," Hansen said of the crater.

Related:

• Artemis Mission Makes History
• Watch As Artemis II Astronauts Make Historic Lunar Flyby

Speaking to the naming, Wiseman told reporters during a presser that it was "a total treasure that they had thought through this and they had offered this."

"That was an emotional moment for me," he said.

The 10-day mission is now nearing its end, with a splashdown scheduled for Friday at 8:07 p.m. off the coast of San Diego.

The trip to the moon and back tested the Orion spacecraft’s life support, communication and navigation systems, as well as its ability to keep astronauts safe, in preparation for future lunar landings.

The next Artemis mission, anticipated for 2027, will test commercial landers in low Earth orbit. It's in 2028, with Artemis IV and V missions, that lunar landings come into play.