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Astronaut Christina Koch broke the “longest spaceflight by a woman” record

Astronaut Christina Koch
NASA astronaut Christina Koch makes observations from the International Space Station's cupola. Koch has already made history once in her stay aboard the orbital laboratory. In October 2019 she was part of the first all-female spacewalk and now she is poised to make history again. On December 28, 2019, she broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, when she surpassed former Station Commander Peggy Whitson's record. When she arrives back on Earth in February 2020, she will have spent more than 300 days in space. In this image from September 2019, Koch wrote on twitter: "#TBT to when Cygnus was docked and @AstroHague and I practiced for capturing Dragon by piloting the @Space_Station robotic arm. Soon we will capture the Japanese cargo spacecraft known as HTV. That means we will have seen the trifecta of cargo spacecraft!" Image Credit: NASA

On December 28, 2019, NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) Christina Koch broke the record for “longest spaceflight by a woman”.

Koch has already made history once in her stay aboard the orbital laboratory: in October 2019, she was part of the first-ever all-female spacewalk in history of space exploration.

Koch launched to the International Space Station on March 14, 2019, on Soyuz MS-12, alongside Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague, to join the Expedition 59/60/61 crew. On December 28, 2019, she completed her 289th day aboard the ISS and broke the “longest spaceflight by a woman” record.

The previous record the longest single continuous stay in space for a woman was held by (now retired) NASA astronaut, Peggy Whitson. She spent 289 days in orbit before returning aboard Soyuz MS-04 in June 2017.

Christina Koch broke the "longest spaceflight by a woman" record
NASA astronaut Christina Koch makes observations from the International Space Station’s cupola. Koch has already made history once in her stay aboard the orbital laboratory. In October 2019 she was part of the first all-female spacewalk. On December 28, 2019, she broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, when she surpassed former Station Commander Peggy Whitson’s record. When she arrives back on Earth in February 2020, she will have spent 328 days in space.
In this image from September 2019, Koch wrote on Twitter: “#TBT to when Cygnus was docked and @AstroHague and I practiced for capturing Dragon by piloting the @Space_Station robotic arm. Soon we will capture the Japanese cargo spacecraft known as HTV. That means we will have seen the trifecta of cargo spacecraft!” Image Credit: NASA
Christina Koch Record-Breaking Spaceflight Interviews – December 27, 2019
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 61 Flight Engineer Christina Koch of NASA discussed her record-setting mission and life on the orbital outpost during a series of media interviews on December 27. Koch, who launched to the station back in March, passed former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson’s mark of 288 days in space for the longest single spaceflight by a woman on December 28. Koch is scheduled to return to Earth on February 6 on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with a total of 328 days in space, second only to former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s record of 340 days in space as the longest single flight by an American astronaut.
Christina Koch Congratulations from students – December 28, 2019
Students and teachers from The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) and North Carolina State University, astronaut Christina Koch’s high school and college, are saying #CongratsChristina today as she sets a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

The longest spaceflight record

The longest spaceflight record in the history of space exploration belongs to Russia’s Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 days in space aboard the Space Station Mir between launching on Soyuz TM-18 and landing on TM-20 in 1994-1995.

Valeri Polyakov - longest spaceflight record holder
Former Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov (born Valeri Ivanovich Korshunov on April 27, 1942) is the holder of the record for the longest single stay in space in human history, staying aboard the Mir space station for more than 14 months (437 days 18 hours) during one trip. His combined space experience is more than 22 months. Image: Polyakov observes rendezvous operations with the Space Shuttle Discovery on its STS-63 mission through a window on the Mir Core Module in February 1995. Source: Wikipedia

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (born February 21, 1964) set the US record by staying in space for 340 consecutive days between 2015 and 2016.

Kelly flew four times to space and commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46. He spent 520 days total in space.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres
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Özgür Nevres

By M. Özgür Nevres

I am a software developer and a science enthusiast. I was graduated from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Computer Engineering. In the past, I worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor. I write about the planet Earth and science on this website, ourplnt.com. I am also an animal lover! I take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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