BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids native is set to blast off Thursday on a historic trip to the International Space Station.
Weather permitting, Christina Koch will launch on Expedition 59 in Kazakhstan at 3:14 p.m. ET. The trip will take her to the International Space Station, where she is set to make history as part of the first all-women spacewalk. NASA says the historic walk is a coincidence.
NASA selected Koch for its astronaut program six years ago. Her background is on the technical side of space operations, and she will serve as a flight engineer for this mission and Expedition 60. This is her first flight into space, but she’s been preparing in jets and rockets. She’s also trained for her spacewalk in a pool big enough to fit a model of the International Space Station.
>>PDF:NASA's Expedition 59 mission
Koch says when she’s all strapped in along with two others Thursday, she’ll allow herself a moment to take it all in before shifting back to the necessary procedures.
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