The First Woman on the Moon Might Be from Michigan

A Grand Rapids native has been chosen as part of the NASA team that aims to return astronauts to the moon. 

NASA's Artemis project is decidedly ambitious, and a Michigan woman has a potentially historic role.

With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. We will collaborate with our commercial and international partners and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.

-NASA.gov

Christina Hammock Koch of Grand Rapids has been chosen as one of the 18 team members to undertake the mission. She was inspired by a family trip to Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center when she was a kid and became "completely enamored by the idea of exploring space" from then on. Koch is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina then graduated from NC State with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Physics and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. She and her husband lived in in Livingston, Montana before relocating to Houston, Texas to join the Astronaut Corps. Christina was was selected by NASA in 2013 and completed astronaut candidate training in 2015. Now, she may be the first woman to walk on the moon.

You can read Christina Hammock Koch's official NASA biography here, watch her video below, meet all of the crew and learn everything about the mission on NASA's official Artemis page.

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