Christina Koch will set a record for longest spaceflight by a woman
Washington, 18 April: NASA astronaut Christina Koch is going to have her mission on the International Space Station (ISS) extended to nearly 11 months which would set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, NASA said.
NASA and its ISS partners have set a new schedule and new crew assignments that will include the first flight of NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and an extended stay for NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan.
"It feels awesome," Koch said when told her mission was being prolonged. "I have known that this was a possibility for a long time and it's truly a dream come true."
The extended missions of Koch and Morgan will help scientists gather additional data about the effects of long-duration human spaceflight beyond those of the normal six-month station expedition, NASA said.
If SpaceX and Boeing do fly people before the end of 2019, that means even more crews could be heading to the ISS this year, in addition to the ones announced today.