WASHINGTON – Two astronauts headed to the International Space Station in 2019 have North Carolina connections. Christina Hammock Koch and Andrew Morgan, both selected as astronauts in 2013, are scheduled for spaceflights next year.
Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and physics, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University. She has already had an adventurous career.
Koch started her career as an electrical engineer focusing on space science instrument design at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She went on to work as a research associate with the United States Antarctic Program, completing several deployments including spending the winter at the South Pole.
She returned to space science instrument design at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, contributing to such missions as the Juno probe to Jupiter. She then returned to her work at remote scientific research stations, including sessions as a field engineer in the Arctic and as station chief with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in American Samoa. Her extracurricular pursuits include running and other outdoor sports.
In the photo, Koch shows her ability to make a fire in one of NASA’s roughing it training sessions.
Morgan began his career in military medicine by volunteering for U.S. Army special operations forces. He served as a medical team member in the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and went on to become the battalion surgeon for the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, where he served for three years.
