NASA says Christina Koch will spend 328 days in space

On Wednesday morning, NASA announced that Christina Koch, already living on the International Space Station, was going to extend her 328-day mission. In doing so, she will become the second astronaut of the space agency to spend nearly a year in the orbiting laboratory.

"It's great," Koch said in a video interview with the station. "I knew it was a possibility for a long time, and it's a dream come true to know that I can continue to work on the program that I've enjoyed so much all my life, keep going there." to contribute, to do my best so that as long as possible is a real honor and a dream come true. "

Koch arrived at the station on March 14 with Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague. As a result of the calendar adjustment, it is expected to remain in orbit until February 2020, when it will return to a Soyuz spacecraft with NASA astronaut Luca Parmitano and the cosmonaut of Roscosmos Alexander Skvortsov. In doing so, Koch will set a record for the longest space flight done by a woman, surpassing the 288 days that Peggy Whitson of NASA spent in space from 2017 to 2018.

His mission will almost match the duration of NASA's Scott Kelly, who spent 340 days in space from March 2016 to March 2016. Although it was not 365 days, NASA has put enough time to present Kelly 's flight as a "one – year mission". On the other hand, Koch's flight is termed "prolonged" aboard the station, where the increases usually last about six months, and another NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan will spend about nine months on the station in July. 2019 next spring.

Health effects

Regardless of its name, Koch's stay in space should be long enough to allow NASA to collect additional data on the threats of long-term flights on the health and performance of astronauts. A comprehensive study of Kelly and her twin Mark, who remained on Earth, raised some concerns about DNA damage and cognitive decline during long-term flight.

With a third and fourth US mission extending over 250 days, NASA scientists said they hoped to better understand these threats and how the human body can adapt and meet the challenges of the world. microgravity. The researchers also hope to develop measures to counteract the effects of weightlessness so that astronauts visiting other worlds, such as Mars, are healthy when they reach the surface.

These concerns have led some spaceflight experts to say that NASA should find more efficient and faster ways to send humans to Mars, instead of the current six to nine-month trip using existing technology. Some have suggested that NASA should design spacecraft capable of producing artificial gravity, although the agency currently has no plans in this area. Others said that the trip had to go faster, with better propulsion.

To this end, NASA recently relaunched a nuclear thermal propulsion program in its Marshall Space Flight Center. A faster trip would mean less time in space and exposure to weightlessness and far-space radiation, as well as to healthier astronauts, at the same time. both for their exploration activities and later in life after their return to Earth.