NASA's Christina Koch has returned to Earth, ending the longest spaceflight ever completed by a female astronaut. Koch spent nearly a year on the International Space Station.
Image: picture-alliance/Zuma/NASA
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American astronaut Christina Koch landed back on Earth on Thursday, marking the end of the longest space mission ever completed by a female astronaut.
A livestream by Russian space agency Roscosmos showed a capsule carrying Koch as well as Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov touching down safely in a snow-covered field in Kazakhstan Thursday afternoon, local time.
The 41-year-old engineer from Michigan also made space history last October when she and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir completed the first-ever all-woman spacewalk.
Koch boarded the space station last March. Her mission, originally scheduled for six months, was extended to nearly a year once she was aboard.
NASA had said that Koch's long stay would provide valuable information about the long-term effects of space travel on the female body. The US space agency has plans in the works to build a permanent station on the surface of the moon within the next ten years.
Male cosmonaut Valery Polyakov currently holds the overall record for longest space mission, having completed a stay of 437 days aboard the ISS. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly set the overall American record in 2016 when he returned from a 340-day trip.
Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20
On November 20, 1998, the first module for the International Space Station was launched into orbit. Three years later, the first crew took up residence there. Since then, the ISS has been a hub for scientific research.
Image: Reuters/NASA
A 19,000 kilo building block
The first module of the International Space Station was sent into orbit 20 years ago. It was the Russian-made Zarya, a "Functional Cargo Block" — also known as FGB. Zarya came in at 19,000 kilograms (41,000 pounds) and was 12 meters (39 feet) long. It was commissioned and paid for by America and built by a Russian space company. It was the start of two decades of international cooperation.
Image: NASA
Larger than a six-bedroom house
The International Space Station is home to an international crew of six people, who also work there. It travels at a speed of five miles per second (8kps), orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. Eight solar arrays provide power to the station and make it the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. You don't need a telescope to see it.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Expedition 1
This was the ISS's first long-term crew: American astronaut William Shepherd (center) and his two Russian fellow workers, cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko (left) and Sergei Krikalev (right). They moved into the ISS on November 2, 2000, and stayed for 136 days.
Image: NASA
Up to one year
On average, space station crews, also known as expeditions, stay in space for about five and a half months. Some crew members, however, have broken that record — for example, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (photo) and Roscosmos cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko. They lived and worked in space for a whole year.
Image: Scott Kelly/NASA
Multinational
This is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield strumming his guitar on the ISS at Christmas 2012. Since 2000, crew members and Space Flight Participants (self-financed space tourists) have come from 18 different countries. The most have come from the USA and Russia. Other teams have included people from Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil and South Africa.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Shuttle bus
Crew members and supplies arrive at the ISS via transfer vehicles and space freighters. This photo shows space shuttle Atlantis, which operated until 2011, docking onto the space station. These days, astronauts arrive at the ISS in a Soyuz capsule.
Image: Getty Images/NASA
Out for a walk
There have been more than 210 spacewalks — "EVA" in astronaut terms — at the ISS since 2000. This photo shows astronaut Mike Hopkins on a spacewalk on December 24, 2013.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Extraordinary exterior
The ISS has several robotic arms. This one, Canadarm2, is 57.7 feet (17.58 meters) long when fully extended, and has seven motorized joints. It can lift 220,000 pounds (100 tons), which is the weight of a space shuttle orbiter. This photo shows astronaut Stephen K. Robinson anchored to Canadarm2's foot restraint.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Blue Dot mission
Crew members spend about 35 hours per week conducting research. On his first mission, dubbed "Blue Dot," German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst observed and analyzed changes to the human body that occur in microgravity. Gerst's second mission at the ISS started in June 2018. In October 2018, he became the first German astronaut to command the ISS.
Image: Getty Images/ESA/A. Gerst
Back home
When their time at the ISS is over, astronauts are taken away in a Soyuz capsules. They fall to Earth with a parachute to ease their landing. Welcome home!
