(Image source from: chochilino.com)

Christina Koch who is an astronaut of National Aeronautics and Space Administration  has safely returned to Earth on Thursday after a stay of almost eleven months aboard the International Space Station. It has been said that Christina Koch has broke the spaceflight record of female astronauts as she had lived and worked in space for around 328 days.

Christina Koch has touched down at 09:12 GMT on the Kazakh steppe after she has spent 328 days in space along with Luca Parmitano who belonged to the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov who belonged to the space agency of Russia.

Koch has blasted off on 14th of March in the year 2019 and has landed on 28th of December.

A video footage of the Roscosmos space agency has been released where in Koch can be seen seated and smiling broadly after being extracted from the Soyuz descent module. Parmitano was found with his fists in the air after being lifted into his chair where as Skvortsov can be seen munching an apple.

Christina Koch who is a 41- year- old engineer who was born in Michigan has beat the previous record for a single spaceflight by a woman which was of 289 days, on 28th of December last year.

Christina Koch has mentioned her desire to inspire the next generation of explorers

The record of 289 days for a single spaceflight by a woman was made by Peggy Whitson who is a NASA veteran in the years 2016- 2017.

Koch has addressed Whitson who is 60 years old as her heroine and a mentor in the space program.

Koch has also made history as one half of the of the first- ever all- woman spacewalk along with Jessica Meir who was her NASA counter part, in the month of October in the year 2019.

Koch has exclaimed that she would miss the micro gravity that she had experienced when she had been in space for 328 days and that she feels very happy and overwhelming.

It is said that Koch will now be taken to the headquarters of NASA which is located in Houston, via the Karaganda which is a city of Kazakh and Cologne in Germany for undergoing medical testing. Based on the result of the medical testing that is being done on Koch NASA would draw a plan for long- duration manned mission to Mars.

The ISS stay of Christina Koch has been extended where as Parmitano and Skvortsov were rounding off the regular half- year missions.

The over all record has been made by four male cosmonauts who have spent a year or more than a year in space as a part of a single mission with Russian Valery Polyakov’s 437 days.

By Shrithika Kushangi