Back on terra firma: NASA astronaut Christina Koch back on Earth

After a record-breaking stint in space, NASA astronaut Christina Koch is back on solid ground.

Koch, who now holds the record for the longest single spaceflight for a woman, returned to Earth Thursday morning in Kazakhstan. She landed with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, CNN reported.

Koch had six spacewalks over the nearly year-long mission, two of which were all-female journeys with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. All of Koch’s spacewalks totaled 42 hours and 15 minutes, CNN reported.

While she spent a total of nearly two full days in space over her time on the International Space Station, she broke the record for a woman in space spending 328 days conducting experiments and being a test subject herself. The previous record-holder was Peggy Whitson who was in space for 288 days during a single mission, but she was 12 days short of Scott Kelly’s record of 340 days, the BBC reported.

Koch was part of the Vertebral Strength investigation that takes a look at how bone and muscle loss during extended space missions could be lessened with preventative medicine and exercise, according to CNN.

She also worked on a project growing protein crystals in microgravity. The crystals could help in treating cancer.

Koch arrived on the ISS on March 14, 2019.

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