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Christina Koch named NASA acting deputy chief engineer, ends her spaceflight career

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Christina Koch will become NASA’s acting deputy chief engineer on 1 November 2026, the agency said on 13 October. The astronaut, who flew around the Moon on Artemis II this year, takes over after Katherine Van Hooser retires on 21 October following more than 35 years at NASA.

Christina Koch: Koch in her flight suit at a NASA rocket facility
Koch in her flight suit at a NASA rocket facility Photo: NASA (public domain).

Christina Koch's new role as NASA acting deputy chief engineer

In the new role Koch will help lead NASA’s engineering community, supporting technical oversight, mission readiness and engineering standards across the agency’s programmes. With the appointment she moves to management astronaut status and will no longer be eligible for future spaceflight assignments, NASA said. WCTI12 and WESH also reported the move.

Key Facts

  • New role from: 1 November 2026
  • Predecessor retires: 21 October
  • ISS record: 328 days in a single flight
  • Selected as astronaut: 2013

“Christina has seen NASA engineering from both sides of the equation: developing complex systems on the ground and trusting them with her life in space.”

— Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator

From Artemis II to a record ISS stay

Koch was a mission specialist on Artemis II in April, the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years. Before that she spent 328 consecutive days on the International Space Station, the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, and took part in the first all-female spacewalks. She began at NASA as an electrical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center building science instruments, and did field engineering in Antarctica and the Arctic before she was selected as an astronaut in 2013.

Jared Isaacman on the Moon Base plans

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Koch has seen engineering ‘from both sides’, building complex systems on the ground and trusting them with her life in space. He said she will make an impact as NASA returns Americans to the lunar surface, builds the Moon Base, moves ahead on nuclear power in space and develops the systems needed for Mars. Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya praised Van Hooser’s leadership in propulsion engineering since she joined in 1991.

Why It Matters: Putting a recent Moon flyer in a top engineering post brings first-hand flight experience to safety decisions for the Moon Base programme.

Also on TrendDesh: Sophie Adenot back in Europe after record 237-day ISS mission · Perseverance driving record: NASA rover beats Opportunity with 28.10 miles on Mars

Source: NASA · WCTI12 · WESH

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