Astronaut Christina Koch Shares Sweet Video of Her Reuniting with Dog After Almost a Year in Space
After nearly a full year in space, astronaut Christina Koch had a very special reunion in store.
The 41-year-old space explorer shared a video of the moment she was reunited with her dog after her 328-day stay at the International Space Station.
“Not sure who was more excited. Glad she remembers me after a year!” Koch wrote in the caption for the video, which she shared to both Instagram and Twitter.
In the video, Koch’s pup can be seen excitedly pawing at the door as she approaches. When the door is opened, the dog immediately rushes into the arms of Koch, who exclaims, “hi baby girl!”
The pooch happily starts barking, jumping around and licking Koch — who can’t help but laugh at the reunion — on the face.
A post shared by Christina Hammock Koch (@astro_christina) on Feb 13, 2020 at 11:25am PST
RELATED: Astronaut Christina Koch Lands on Earth After Record-Setting 328 Days at Space Station
Koch’s time in space was history-making. After she hit 289 days, 5 hours and 1 minute in space, Koch broke the record previously set by astronaut Peggy Whitson, giving her the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman in history.
“Having the opportunity to be up here for so long is truly an honor,” Koch said of her history-making accomplishment back in December, according to Space.com. “Peggy is a heroine of mine and has also been kind enough to mentor me through the years, so it is a reminder to give back and to mentor when I get back.”
“It is a wonderful thing for science. We see another aspect of how the human body is affected by microgravity for the long term. That is really important for our future spaceflight plans, going forward to the moon and Mars,” she continued.
A few months prior, Koch was part of the first-ever all-female space walk when she and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir spent more than seven hours fixing a faulty power controller outside of the ISS.
The only other American astronaut to spend more days in space than Koch is Scott Kelly, who spent 340 days out of this world, according to NASA.
