American Astronaut Koch Returns to Earth after Record-Setting Spaceflight
2020-02-07
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1A capsule carrying a crew of three from the International Space Station returned to Earth Thursday.
2They came down safely in Kazakhstan.
3One of the three was Christina Koch of the United States.
4She spent a total of 328 days in space.
5That broke the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman.
6The old record was set by Peggy Whitson, another American astronaut.
7During her time on the International Space Station, Koch traveled over 223 million kilometers.
8That is how far you would travel if you went to the moon and back 291 times.
9Koch's mission in space began March 14, 2019.
10Since then, she has left the space station and completed "spacewalks" six times.
11Koch made history on October 18 by working outside the space station with another female astronaut, Jessica Meir.
12It was the first walk in space by an all-female team.
13One reason this has not happened before is that the space station had only one spacesuit that was the right size for a woman.
14Peggy Whitson held the record for the longest space flight by a woman until Koch broke it in December.
15Whitson still holds the record for the longest time in space for a woman over her entire career: 589 days.
16Scott Kelly holds the record for the longest time in space for any U.S. astronaut, 340 days.
17The Russian space agency Roscosmos released images of the capsule landing on a snow-covered field in Kazakhstan.
18Koch returned to Earth with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.
19All three were said to be in good spirits after the landing.
20Parmitano and Skvortsov spent 201 days in space.
21The U.S. space agency NASA says Koch's mission will provide researchers with the chance to see the effects of a long-duration spaceflight on a woman.
22It is important information because NASA plans to return to the moon under the Artemis program.
23The space agency is also preparing for the human exploration of the planet Mars.
24Koch grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
25She now lives with her husband Bob near the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas.
26She told The Associated Press last month that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her space station visit.
27I'm Jill Robbins.
1A capsule carrying a crew of three from the International Space Station returned to Earth Thursday. They came down safely in Kazakhstan. 2One of the three was Christina Koch of the United States. She spent a total of 328 days in space. That broke the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman. The old record was set by Peggy Whitson, another American astronaut. 3During her time on the International Space Station, Koch traveled over 223 million kilometers. That is how far you would travel if you went to the moon and back 291 times. 4Historic space walk by two women 5Koch's mission in space began March 14, 2019. Since then, she has left the space station and completed "spacewalks" six times. 6Koch made history on October 18 by working outside the space station with another female astronaut, Jessica Meir. It was the first walk in space by an all-female team. One reason this has not happened before is that the space station had only one spacesuit that was the right size for a woman. 7Peggy Whitson held the record for the longest space flight by a woman until Koch broke it in December. Whitson still holds the record for the longest time in space for a woman over her entire career: 589 days. Scott Kelly holds the record for the longest time in space for any U.S. astronaut, 340 days. 8Landing in Kazakhstan 9The Russian space agency Roscosmos released images of the capsule landing on a snow-covered field in Kazakhstan. 10Koch returned to Earth with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. All three were said to be in good spirits after the landing. Parmitano and Skvortsov spent 201 days in space. 11Next stops: the moon and Mars 12The U.S. space agency NASA says Koch's mission will provide researchers with the chance to see the effects of a long-duration spaceflight on a woman. It is important information because NASA plans to return to the moon under the Artemis program. The space agency is also preparing for the human exploration of the planet Mars. 13Koch grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina. She now lives with her husband Bob near the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas. 14She told The Associated Press last month that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her space station visit. 15I'm Jill Robbins. 16Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Her story was based on reports from The Associated Press and the Reuters news agency. George Grow was the editor. 17_______________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19capsule - n. a small part of a spacecraft that is separate from the rest of the spacecraft and that is where people live and work 20mission - n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a special operation 21duration - n. the time during which something lasts or exists 22highlight - n. something of special interest 23What do you think of NASA's plan to return to the moon and send humans to Mars? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.