NASA astronaut Christina Koch has set a new record on December 28, 2019 for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission.
- Koch has surpassed the record for the single longest space mission by a woman as previously established by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017.
- The 40-year-old Expedition 61 flight engineer exceeded Whitson’s record of 289 days, 5 hours and 1 minute on December 28, 2019 (US Time).
- Koch launched to the space station on March 14, 2019 on what was expected to be a typical six-month mission.
- She is now slated to land on Feb. 6, 2020. If her return to Earth remains as scheduled, Koch will have logged 328 days in space — just 12 days shy of the longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut, 340 days, set by Scott Kelly during his “year-long” mission from 2015 to 2016.
