Christina Koch’s 10 coolest pictures from her 10 months in space

After 10 months of shattering records, NASA Astronaut Christina Koch will be returning home from the International Space Station on February 6. While on station, Koch has set the record for the longest spaceflight mission by a  female astronaut and completed the first all-female EVA with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. Join us as we reflect on her historic mission with 10 of our favorite photos from her 10 months in space! 

JSC Employees welcomed her home with a surfing themed welcome message as Christina missed surfing during her time in space!

#1 Space Selfie

There aren’t many selfie locations cooler than outer space. During EVA 57 Christina shot a picture of herself reflected in a portion of the Exposed Pallet (EP).

#2 Cupola Module

Arguably the best view on the space station, the Cupola Module is the perfect place to snap a picture of the Earth as it passes by at 17,150 miles per hour (around 5 miles per second.)

#3 Pizza Party

Ain’t no party like a space station party, because a space station party has pizza. Five of six Expedition 59 crew members gather inside Russia's Zvezda service module for dinner as a pizza loaded with toppings floats above the galley.

#4 BioFabrication Facility Test Print

While in the space station for 10.78 months, Christina participated in hundreds of science experiments. Here is Koch loading a Test Print Cassette into BioFabrication Facility and execute test print with cells. 

#5 Locked and Loaded for First All-Female Eva

Meir and Koch are shown inside the Quest airlock preparing the U.S. spacesuits and tools they used on their first spacewalk together. They are holding the pistol grip tools they will use to swap out a failed power controller, also known as a battery charge-discharge unit that regulates the charge to batteries that collect and distribute power to the International Space Station.

#6  Lucky #6 with Liquid Cooling 

Meir and Koch are shown wearing Liquid Cooling And Ventilation Garments (LCVGs) and the lower portion of their Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) during preparations for (EVA 58).

#7 HTV-7 Space Walk

During a spacewalk that lasted six hours and 45 minutes, NASA astronauts Koch and Hague retrieved hardware from a pallet delivered on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) HTV-7 (H-II Transfer Vehicle-7) to continue upgrading to continue upgrading the International Space Station's power storage capacity. The two continued on to swap batteries and install adapter plates on the station's Port-4 truss structure.

#8 Botany Research

NASA astronaut and Expedition 59 Flight Engineer Christina Koch conducts botany research aboard the International Space Station.

#9 Fourth of July Festivities

Christina Koch and Nick Hague dressed up for the fourth of July festivities.