By Peter Omopo
President John Dramani Mahama has congratulated Christina Koch on her role in the ongoing Artemis II mission, highlighting her past academic connection to Ghana as a source of national pride.
Mahama’s message follows reports that Koch once studied at the University of Ghana as an exchange student during the 1999/2000 academic session.
In a statement shared on Thursday, the Ghanaian leader said he joined the university and the nation in celebrating Koch’s participation in the historic mission, noting that her achievement reflects positively on Ghana’s global academic footprint.
“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,” he said.
The Artemis II mission, led by the NASA, is part of a broader programme aimed at returning humans to the Moon. The mission recently completed a historic lunar flyby—the first crewed journey of its kind in over 50 years—and is now entering its final phase.
Reports indicate that the crew, including Koch, has set a new milestone as the farthest-travelling humans in history, reaching a distance of over 252,000 miles from Earth.
As the mission nears completion, the astronauts are preparing for re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day journey, with the high-speed return phase considered one of the most critical stages of the operation.
The successful completion of Artemis II is expected to pave the way for future lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis programme.
