{"id":2449,"date":"2026-04-09T10:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2026\/04\/09\/koch-eager-for-splashdown\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:48:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T15:48:57","slug":"koch-eager-for-splashdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2026\/04\/09\/koch-eager-for-splashdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Koch Eager For Splashdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

And now, she\u2019s heading home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime Friday around 8 p.m. Eastern, if all goes as planned, three-time NC State graduate and Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch and her three crewmates will splash down in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of San Diego to end the farthest human flight in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been quite a ride. They\u2019ve been to the far side of the moon, where they saw details never before witnessed by the human eye. They named two previously anonymous craters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve taken thousands of spectacular, high-definition photos with the 100 or so handheld and mounted Nikon D5 and Z9 cameras they brought with them. For Koch, it was a skill first developed when she was a staff photographer for NC State student newspaper Technician<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The NC State community watches the mission launch from Talley Student Union on April 1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They ran into a little trouble on the day after launch, when one of the three toilets onboard their Orion spacecraft malfunctioned. Koch, a mission specialist and trained electrical engineer, stepped up to fix the $23 million balky device and proudly claimed the title \u201cspace plumber.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally reserved and used to being in the most remote places on Earth and in space, Koch has been in the spotlight throughout the lunar flyby mission, even going viral for a photograph of her sculpted rock-climber’s forearm and biceps, posted by the Goddard Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an unexpected glow-up for a serious astronaut used to utilizing her electrical engineering and physics backgrounds to complete complicated experiments, as she did on her 328.5 days on the International Space Station some six years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Koch<\/a>
Koch preps for lunar flyby activities after completing aerobic exercises on a flywheel device. (Photo credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It comes with the territory, of course, since every moment on the trip has been broadcast via NASA\u2019s YouTube channel. The outcome has been the biggest revival in attention to space exploration since the last Apollo mission landed on the moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She caught the attention of Hollywood star Jessica Alba for requesting the brand of hand lotion sold by Alba\u2019s company. It wasn\u2019t the only unintentional product placement on the mission: As the spaceship neared its farthest distance from Earth, a plastic jar of the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella floated through Koch\u2019s flailing hair and around the cabin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 47-year-old mission specialist spoke the crew\u2019s first words after reemerging from a 40-minute communications blackout as they traversed around the far side of the moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is so great to hear from Earth again,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will explore. We will build. We will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will found companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire, but ultimately, we will always choose Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will always choose each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Koch<\/a>
Koch illuminated by a screen inside the darkened Orion spacecraft on the third day of the agency’s Artemis II mission. (Photo credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday night, just before they did a 20-minute space media conference, the astronauts were packing up the cabin to prepare for the most dangerous part of the mission: landing on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will hurtle back into the planet\u2019s atmosphere at 30 times the speed of sound, creating a friction temperature of more than 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit as they reenter the atmosphere to be greeted by the awaiting arms of a U.S. Navy crew for transport to the U.S.S. John P. Murtha<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the mission \u2014 which began three years ago with constant training and preparation \u2014 comes to an end, Koch reflected on the journey in the cramped space camper, its 330-cubic-square-foot enclosure and what she might miss after all the time she spent with fellow crew members Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will miss the camaraderie,\u201d Koch said. \u201cI will miss being this close with this many people and having a common purpose, a common mission, getting to work on it hard every day, across hundreds of thousands of miles with a team on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will always choose Earth.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all part of being a space explorer, bringing back their description of previously unseen parts of the universe, how they survived and what the next steps will be in returning humans to the moon and, ultimately, going on to Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis sense of teamwork is something that you don’t usually get as an adult,\u201d Koch said. \u201cWe are close like brothers and sisters, 100%, and that is a privilege we will never have again. I have to say, I don’t think there’s anything I would say I won’t miss or that I’m just ready to be over, because this whole thing is a package. We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient. Unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose things are all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n