08/10/2026
Our favorite astronaut, three-time NC State graduate Christina Koch, is coming home to NC State Aug. 24-25. It’s one homecoming celebration that’s sure to be out of this world.
There’s much to celebrate about NASA astronaut and NC State graduate Christina Hammock Koch’s record-breaking experiences on the Artemis II mission in April. She became the first woman to leave low Earth orbit, and the first woman to travel to and around the moon. So when NASA called and asked if we’d be willing to serve as the anchor site for her upcoming visit to North Carolina, we obviously said, “Howl, yes.”
We’re perhaps most excited to celebrate the moments when Koch and her crew brought all of us together — as humans, as Americans, as North Carolinians and as a Wolfpack — as we followed along with their journey. Like she said during their space flight, “Ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.” That’s a sentiment that we know our Wolfpack can get behind.
In that spirit, we’re filling her two days on campus, Aug. 24-25, with as many opportunities as we can to come together, celebrate her achievements and learn from her. Several of them will be livestreamed so our whole Pack can tune in, no matter where you are. Because once you’re a member of the Wolfpack, you never truly leave NC State’s orbit.
Photos courtesy of NASA.