Christina Koch in January 2026, at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo: Charles Boyer Christina Koch, who flew Orion around the Moon after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in April, is trading her flying status for a leadership position at NASA headquarters. The agency announced that she will become acting deputy chief engineer on November 1. Koch succeeds Katherine Van Hooser, who will retire on October 21 after more than 35 years at NASA. The move makes Koch a management astronaut, meaning she will not be assigned to future space flights. With that transition, the four astronauts who flew on Artemis II are now retired from flight status. As an astronaut, Koch spent approximately 337 days and 15.5 hours in space. She currently holds the record (along with her Artemis II crewmates) for distance traveled from Earth and, as part of that record, is the highest flying woman in history. She spent 328 days, 13 hours and 58 minutes aboard the ISS, which at the time set a record for spaceflight duration for women, and has traveled around 140 million miles in space during her flight career. Artemis II will launch in April 2026, with Christina Koch on board. Photo: Charles Boyer New job, new challenges As deputy chief engineer, Koch will help lead the agency’s engineering workforce. The job covers technical oversight and mission readiness across all NASA programs and projects. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman highlighted Koch’s experience on both ends of the hardware. She said she helped build complex systems on Earth and then depended on them to stay alive in space. Isaacman tied the appointment to the agency’s near-term agenda, including returning astronauts to the lunar surface, building a lunar base, advancing nuclear power in space and preparing for Mars. Big shoes to fill Amit Kshatriya, associate administrator and chief engineer at NASA, credited Van Hooser for guiding the agency’s engineering community through critical transitions and milestones. He said he was “confident that Christina will continue the tradition of technical excellence” at NASA. Koch’s appointment comes six months after Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than half a century. She flew as a mission specialist on the flight, which drew crowds across the Space Coast for its launch in April. “Earthset”: Photographed by Christina Koch aboard Artemis II in April 2026. Photo: NASA
