Christina Koch is about to take Philadelphia all the way to the moon. The astronaut, one of four crew members on Artemis II, is set to become the first woman astronaut to travel around the moon when the mission splashes down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday night.
For Koch, the milestone comes with a familiar soundtrack: Eagles, Phillies and Sixers pride. She has worn that fandom as a badge since at least 2016, posting photos of herself in Eagles gear, watching games and even running the Rocky steps. She also brought a Phillies jersey, a Joel Embiid jersey and an Eagles hat into space, a small cargo list that says as much about her as any official biography.
The mission matters because Artemis II is the first crewed flight to the moon in more than 50 years, and Koch’s role gives the flight a historic first of its own. She became an astronaut in 2013, lived and worked on the International Space Station for almost all of 2019 and spent 328 consecutive days in space, helping establish her as one of NASA’s most experienced fliers before this lunar trip.
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Her connection to Philadelphia has long been part of the story. Koch posted photos of herself watching games from the International Space Station, more than 250 miles above Earth, and in 2022 wrote, “For a Philadelphia fan, that was a good weekend,” after a burst of hometown sports success. In the same year, she added: “Only better when I was watching from the ISS. Great to be there in person when the @phillies clinched it in Space City a week ago too! See you in Houston too, @philadelphiaeagles next month.”
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That mix of hometown devotion and deep space experience is what makes Koch stand out on Artemis II. She was also part of the first all-female space walks during her 2019 ISS stay, a precedent that reinforced her place in the history of human spaceflight long before this mission headed toward the moon. Now the question has been answered in the clearest way possible: the first woman to circle the moon will do it while carrying Philadelphia with her.
