![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nasa-e1786643931476-1024x577.png\")
Astronaut Christina Koch (Photo: NASA)<\/p>\n\t\tAstronaut Christina Koch (Photo: NASA)<\/p>\n
RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) \u2014 NASA astronaut Christina Koch will return to her home state next week as part of a tour celebrating the Artemis II mission.<\/p>\n
North Carolina Labor Commissioner Luke Farley will welcome Koch to the historic Labor Building in Raleigh on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, served aboard Artemis II, NASA\u2019s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.<\/p>\n
During her visit, Koch will be recognized for her accomplishments and contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as her connection to North Carolina\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n
Local students will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive question-and-answer session with Koch. She is expected to discuss her experiences as an astronaut, her career journey and the path that led her to NASA.<\/p>\n
The event is intended to inspire the next generation of North Carolina students and workers to pursue careers in STEM fields.<\/p>\n
Event details<\/p>\n
What: Christina Koch home-state visit and STEM student Q&A
When: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, at 10 a.m.
Where: Labor Building, 4 W. Edenton St., Raleigh
Who: Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and NASA astronaut Christina Koch<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tTags: Artemis<\/a>, Artemis II<\/a>, Astronaut<\/a>, Christina Koch<\/a>, Jacksonville<\/a>, Jacksonville NC<\/a>, Labor Commissioner Luke Farley<\/a>, NASA<\/a>, NASA astronaut<\/a>, North Carolina<\/a>, Raleigh<\/a>, Space<\/a>, STEM<\/a>, STEM education<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Astronaut Christina Koch (Photo: NASA) RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) \u2014 NASA astronaut Christina Koch will return to her home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16924,48493,72502,97486,116,118,25470,117,151696,11969,91387,1854,11796,1769,6596,76565],"class_list":["post-376829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-artemis","tag-artemis-ii","tag-astronaut","tag-christina-koch","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-nc","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-labor-commissioner-luke-farley","tag-nasa","tag-nasa-astronaut","tag-north-carolina","tag-raleigh","tag-space","tag-stem","tag-stem-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}