5-year Space Camp alum now headed to the moon with Artemis II mission

52790818034 bbe4a4c0fa k — Christina Koch, one of the astronauts on the Artemis II mission, is a 5-time Space Camp grad. (NASA)

History will be made Wednesday when the Artemis II mission will send four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — on a 10-day trip around the moon and back to Earth. Launch is scheduled for 5:24PM CDT.

One of the astronauts on the mission, Koch, is a 5-time graduate of Space Camp right here in Huntsville. That is one of multiple ties the Rocket City has to the mission.

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Artemis II mission’s Huntsville ties

66810ef8 29b4 4419 b0dc 2d919822a811 — “NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage” by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

According to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Artemis II crew member Christina Koch attended Space Camp here in Huntsville for five consecutive summers from 1992 to 1996.

She participated in Space Academy and Advanced Space Academy, later becoming a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame. Since her graduation from Space Camp, her career has really taken off (pun intended), with highlights including:

Launched to the International Space Station in March 2019 as a member of Expedition 59 and 60
Worked as an electrical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center’s Laboratory for High Energy Physics
Selected as one of eight members of the 21st NASA Astronaut Class
Has worked in space science instrument development as well as serving as a research associate with the United States Antarctic Program.
While aboard the ISS, she set the record for the longest single spaceflight for a woman.

But Koch is not the only tie the Artemis mission has to Huntsville. The Space Launch System—the most powerful rocket ever built—was developed with significant contributions from NASA’s Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville.

Also, Huntsville’s L3Harris has contributed more than 100 critical elements to the Artemis II mission. These contributions include:

Propulsion systems that support every phase of flight
Mission-critical avionics that control the launch vehicle
Composite overwrapped pressure vessels that store gases for operating the vehicle and maintaining a breathable atmosphere for the crew
The audio system that enables communication among the crew and with mission control

More on Artemis II

Here are a few quick tidbits on the Artemis II mission:

NASA has said there’s an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions to launch Artemis II on Wednesday.
The April launch windows for Artemis II run from Wednesday through to Monday (April 4 to 9), with the potential for a launch on any of those days.
The next launch window is April 30.
This will be NASA’s last chance to launch the rocket on time, as the mission is meant to lift off no later than April 30.

True to its name as the Rocket City, Huntsville will celebrate the launch in style, as the U.S. Space & Rocket Center will host a FREE Artemis II Launch Watch Party beginning at 4:30PM Wednesday, with the launch window starting at 5:24PM.

The event is a great chance to celebrate this milestone with fellow space enthusiasts and hear from NASA subject matter experts, including Dr. Renee Weber, Chief Scientist, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and others.

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