NASA astronaut Christina Koch, the first woman to fly to the moon, is moving away from spaceflight into a new role with NASA as acting Deputy Chief Engineer.
The news of Koch’s new role at NASA comes just six months after she flew to the moon and back as a member of the Artemis II crew. The mission flew farther from Earth than any human has been, 248,655 miles away from Earth.
Before Artemis II, Koch spent 328 days in space, mostly aboard the International Space Station, setting the record for longest continuous spaceflight by a woman. She also conducted the first all-female spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.
Don Platt, Florida Tech’s director of Spaceport Education Center in Titusville, said it's not uncommon for astronauts to move into new roles after a spaceflight. He said for many, astronaut training takes time and sacrifices, like being away from loved ones.
“Once they do fly a mission, then they're sort of at the bottom of the cycle again, and they've got to restart and work their way up to get another flight opportunity,” Platt said. "Sometimes you'll hear them even say that ‘Well, I wanted to give somebody else the chance.’”
Koch will no longer be eligible for future spaceflight missions, according to NASA. Her new role will focus on overseeing the agency’s engineering community. The agency said she will be “supporting technical oversight, mission readiness, and engineering excellence across the agency’s programs.”
Platt said Koch has experience that will play an important part in her new role. Her predecessor, Katherine Van Hooser, is retiring after more than 35 years at NASA.
“There's certainly a lot of demand for anybody who has the technical skills, capabilities, and then of course the flight experience that an astronaut like Christina has,” Platt said. “So, then they look at other ways they can apply themselves and new challenges, and they're always a person that's looking for a challenge. So, I think it makes sense in a lot of ways that she would then take this opportunity. She can apply that experience to make sure that future missions are safe, effective, and get the highest performance possible.”
Platt said Koch’s experience and oversight will also help with future missions, including those in NASA’s Artemis program which is aiming to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a permanent science base on the moon He said Koch’s new role is also at a challenging time in spaceflight history.
“Even the Artemis III mission, although it's in low-Earth orbit, is a very ambitious mission with brand new spacecraft and brand new capabilities that haven't been demonstrated previously,” Platt said. “Then certainly following that up with landing humans on the moon again in a more sustainable fashion than just being there for a couple of days, and the missions that will follow to really maintain and develop that sustainability.”
Koch is not the only astronaut from her Artemis II crew. Commander Reid Wiseman and Pilot Victor Glover have both transitioned to emeritus status, so they can mentor and train NASA’s workforce. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen retired from the astronaut corps.
“It's interesting that most of the crew is now doing something different, and I guess that shows us a little bit about this idea that it takes a lot to prepare for one of these missions, and a huge amount of sacrifice,” Platt said. “So, I think that's kind of a common thing to see. Even sometimes people say, ‘wow, they worked so hard to be an astronaut, and then they just left.’ Well, there's just so much behind it all.”
