Astronaut Christina Breaks Record of Longest Stay in Space – and She is Still in Orbit!

NASA astronaut Christina Koch broke the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman: she passed Peggy Whitson’s 2017 record of 289 days and 5 hours on December 28 – and she’s still in orbit!

Koch – who was part of another historic first when she and Jessica Meir completed the first all-female spacewalk – extended her six-month flight on the International Space Station (ISS) partly to discover how human bodies are impacted after long durations in space.

“It is a wonderful thing for science,” says Koch from the ISS. “We see another aspect of how the human body is affected by microgravity for the long term. That is really important for our future spaceflight plans, going forward to the moon and Mars…. Having the opportunity to be up here for so long is truly an honor.”

The 40-year-old engineer is scheduled to remain in space until February 6, 2020, after which she will have logged 328 days – just 12 days shy of the NASA astronaut’s longest spaceflight record, achieved by Scott Kelly.