Christina Koch, the first woman to go to the Moon: "When I told my teachers I wanted to be an astronaut, they didn't say it was unattainable"

"Oooh, astronauts!" A group of tourists visiting the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday ran into the crew of NASA's future Artemis 2 mission, which will bring humans closer to the moon after a 53-year hiatus. The four cosmonauts, who had just concluded a series of meetings with congressmen, agreed to take some photos with them before their escorts took them to the next event. "Did you see? There was a woman!" one of the fans was heard excitedly commented.

It is moments like that that remind Christina Hammock Koch (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 44 years old) – and the rest of her comrades, who are the ones who tell the anecdote – that this electrical and physical engineer is going to make history. That it has become a model for those who come behind. Koch will be the first female astronaut to travel to the moon when the Orion spacecraft flies over our satellite next year, part of the Artemis program to resume manned trips to the moon and open the way to Mars.

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Artemis 2 will be the most diverse mission in NASA's lunar history. Not only a woman – 35.52% of the space agency's workforce is female – but also an African-American astronaut, Victor Glover, will participate in it for the first time. Only 11.83% of the institution's workers are black.

It won't be the first time Koch — her married name — has broken records. She is already the woman astronaut who has spent the most time in space, 328 days on the International Space Station (ISS), and one of the protagonists of the first spacewalk executed only by women, in 2019. Two more would follow. In total, he has participated in six spacewalks, in which he has accumulated 42 hours and 15 minutes outside the base. He has participated in three expeditions to the ISS, and in the Artemis 2 mission he will have a specialist role: he will ensure that everything works properly on the ship.

The scientist recognizes a certain inner battle to promote her achievements as a woman who breaks records and glass ceilings. Although she loves to speak out and mentor — and thank those who trained her in that way — "at first I shied away from the idea of talking about a record, or the number of days, those things. But people I approached this with taught me that milestones matter to people, and that sharing them helps educate about where we are, about human exploration. They serve as an inspiration to people who may have to face their own challenges," he stressed on Wednesday in response to EL PAÍS in a meeting with the media at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

In any case, he remarks, "it is an honor to pay tribute to the people who inspired us through our activities, in which we give advice and encourage future explorers. That's one of the most important privileges we enjoy."

She, raised in Jacksonville, a small town in North Carolina, always knew for as long as she can remember that she wanted to be an astronaut. I already said it in kindergarten, in an era, that of the sixties and seventies, in which to aspire to fly in a space capsule it was a tacit requirement to be male and white. "I feel lucky: when I told my preschool teachers I wanted to be an astronaut, they supported me. No one told me it was unattainable. And whether because of that support or because of my own stubbornness, I threw myself fully into fulfilling my dream," he says.

The scientist also attributes her determination to the example of her reference characters. Pioneers in their field such as Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, or Mae Jemison, the first black astronaut to travel to space. But also people not at all related to the world of aeronautics, from the fighters of the civil rights movement of the black population in North Carolina to his own grandmother in Michigan, a woman who "basically managed an entire farm by herself, who went to college against the will of her own father and who never complained. but he worked hard to make his contribution."

"I never saw a woman engineer in my small town in North Carolina, but I did see people who believed in something and were brave enough to fight to get what they believed in," she says. Koch also considers it a factor in his success to "come from a family in which hard work was held to the highest of appreciation."

Koch studied physics and electrical engineering before joining NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center, where he contributed to the development of scientific instruments on several space missions. From there he went to the United States Antarctic program, a stage in which he spent an entire year – winter included – at the Amundsen-Scott polar station.

After another stint in the world of scientific instruments for space missions, in this case at Johns Hopkins University, he returned to fieldwork in remote places, from Greenland to American Samoa. Not by chance, he cites among his hobbies photography, traveling, camping and climbing.

The definitive fulfillment of her dream came in 2013, when she was selected as one of eight members of NASA's 21st class of astronauts. An equal promotion, in which the same number of men and women were selected. Quite an achievement: of the 360 space explorers that the US agency has chosen since its founding, only 61 have been women.

Koch finished his training as an astronaut in 2015. In 2018 he was assigned his first spaceflight, a long-stay mission on the ISS.

"One of the pieces of advice I give people is to follow what you're passionate about. When you contribute to something that you really love, you will have the greatest successes and you will contribute more to the world, "said this petite woman, with curly hair and glasses, in a second visit to the US Congress, on Thursday.

In fact, his recommendation goes further: "Do what scares you. And I say this because I think that very often the things that catch our attention, but that we think are not within our reach, are exactly the things we should do. When we achieve something we thought we couldn't achieve is when we contribute more to our world and when we feel more fulfilled. That motivates us to achieve even more."

But there is one thing, he adds, that should never be forgotten: "Support the people around you. Make sure you think about the success of your close people and that you help them. Together we will achieve everything that is possible."

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