Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has congratulated National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Christina Koch for her role in the ongoing Artemis II mission, highlighting her past academic ties to the country.
His message comes after reports confirmed that Koch once studied at the University of Ghana as an exchange student during the 1999/2000 academic year, a detail the President described as a source of national pride.
In a post shared on Thursday, April 9, Mahama said: “I join the University of Ghana and the entire nation in celebrating NASA Astronaut Christina Koch on her historic membership of the Artemis II mission.”
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He added: “It is a point of immense pride to learn that Christina, the only woman on this pioneering lunar mission, was once an exchange student at our very own University of Ghana during the 1999/2000 academic year.”
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The Artemis II mission, part of NASA’s broader programme to return humans to the Moon, recently completed a historic lunar flyby, the first crewed journey of its kind in over five decades, and is now entering its final phase.
The crew, including Koch, has also set a new record as the farthest-travelling humans in history, reaching a distance of more than 252,000 miles from Earth during the mission.
With the mission nearing completion, astronauts are preparing for re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day journey. The high-speed re-entry phase is considered one of the most critical stages of the operation.
The successful conclusion of Artemis II is expected to pave the way for future lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis programme.
