04/01/2026
"For over 50 years, only men have traveled to the Moon. Tomorrow, that changes.
On April 1, NASA astronaut Christina Koch is set to become the first woman to travel beyond low-Earth orbit and circle the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis II mission. As mission specialist, she’ll help test the Orion spacecraft’s life-support, navigation, and communication systems on a 10-day journey paving the way for future lunar landings.
Koch is no stranger to breaking barriers. She holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days and was part of the first all-female spacewalk in 2019.
In a field where nearly 90% of astronauts have historically been men, this moment marks a long-overdue shift in who gets to lead the future of space exploration. When women have a seat at the table, or in this case, the spacecraft, we all go further.
'We are at a time when everyone who has a dream gets to work equally hard to achieve it,' she shared. 🚀" -- via The Female Quotient
To introduce kids to real-life women space pioneers, we highly recommend "Galaxy Girls" for ages 7 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/galaxy-girls), "Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Astronauts" for ages 8 to 11 (https://www.amightygirl.com/gutsy-girls-astronauts), the graphic novel "Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/astronauts-women-on-the-final-frontier), and “Women In Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Ground-Breaking Adventures” for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-space)
For picture books about more trailblazing women of NASA, we recommend "Margaret and the Moon" (https://www.amightygirl.com/margaret-and-the-moon), "A Computer Called Katherine" (https://www.amightygirl.com/a-computer-called-katherine), and To The Stars!" (https://www.amightygirl.com/to-the-stars), all for ages 5 to 9
For more books and toys to encourage Mighty Girls with an interest in space, check out our blog post "Reach For The Stars: Books and Toys to Inspire Space-Loving Mighty Girls" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=16848
