NASA astronaut will break the record for longest spaceflight by a woman after the agency extends her mission to 11 months in orbit

  • Christina Koch arrived at ISS on March 14, is expected to remain until Feb 2020
  • Will bring her spaceflight to a total of 328 days in orbit, passing 288-day record
  • The previous record was set by now-retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson 

NASA astronaut Christina Koch will soon set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. 

The space agency set a new schedule and assignments for crew on the International Space Station this week, revealing Koch's mission has been extended to a total of 11 months.

Koch arrived at ISS on March 14 and is now expected to remain in orbit until February 2020.

This will bring her total time away from Earth to a number just shy of the all-time record for the longest single spaceflight – 340 days, set by former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly – and eclipse the 288-day milestone set by Peggy Whitson in 2016-17. 

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NASA astronaut Christina Koch's mission on the International Space Station is to be extended to 11 months, which would set a record for a woman in space

NASA astronaut Christina Koch's mission on the International Space Station is to be extended to 11 months, which would set a record for a woman in space

As part of NASA's study of the effects of long spaceflights on the human body, Koch will spend 328 days in space. The 40-year-old astronaut has been in orbit since last month.

'One month down. Ten to go,' Koch wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. 'Privileged to contribute my best every single day of it.'

In late March, NASA canceled what would have been the first all-female spacewalk with Koch and astronaut Anne McClain due to a lack of a spacesuit in the right size for McClain.

The walk was would have occurred during the final week of Women's History Month.

On board the orbiting space station, astronauts work on a range of experiments in biology, biotechnology, health, earth, space and other sciences.

The typical stay for astronauts is six months, NASA said.

'NASA is looking to build on what we have learned with additional astronauts in space for more than 250 days,' said Jennifer Fogarty, a chief scientist for NASA's Human Research Program in a statement.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, staying in orbit 288 days in 2016 and 2017, NASA said.

'It's my honor to follow in Peggy's footsteps,' Koch said in a video from the International Space Station, orbiting over 200 miles (322 km) above earth.

Peggy Whitson, 58, announced her retirement last summer on her last day on the job. She spent more time off the planet than any American: 665 days in three missions

Peggy Whitson, 58, announced her retirement last summer on her last day on the job. She spent more time off the planet than any American: 665 days in three missions 

Of the more than 500 people who have traveled to space, fewer than 11 percent have been women.

But Koch graduated from NASA's 2013 class of astronauts that was 50 percent women.

The overall NASA record of 340 days, set in 2016, is held by astronaut Scott Kelly in an experiment to compare his physical and mental health to his identical twin Mark Kelly, who remained on earth.

Mark Kelly is married to former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and gravely wounded in 2011 by a gunman who killed six people and wounded 13 others in a supermarket parking lot.

EXPLAINED: THE $100 BILLION INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SITS 250 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH

The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.

It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000. 

Crews have come mainly from the US and Russia, but the Japanese space agency JAXA and European space agency ESA have also sent astronauts. 

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years and has been expended with multiple new modules added and upgrades to systems

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years and has been expended with multiple new modules added and upgrades to systems 

Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.

ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.

The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.

So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.

There is an ongoing debate about the future of the station beyond 2025, when it is thought some of the original structure will reach 'end of life'.

Russia, a major partner in the station, plans to launch its own orbital platform around then, with Axiom Space, a private firm, planning to send its own modules for purely commercial use to the station at the same time. 

NASA, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are working together to build a space station in orbit around the moon, and Russia and China are working on a similar project, that would also include a base on the surface.