Philadelphia sports fans are truly out of this world — literally.
In an Instagram post shared on Tuesday, NASA astronaut and passionate Philadelphia Eagles fan Christina Hammock Koch, one of the four Artemis II crew members, revealed that she brought a touch of Bird magic to space.
Koch mentioned that during the historic mission, she flew confetti from the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory around the moon. This was a nod to her husband, who she said introduced her to the team and the city.
Her post read in part:
“Going to the Moon may have been my Super Bowl, but I sure loved watching yours. (I watch Eagles games on Earth, too.)
My husband introduced me to this team and city—gritty, hard working and embodying the underdog mentality. Now I’m all in. As a surprise for him, I flew confetti from Super Bowl LIX around the Moon.
Go birds!
Thank you, @jalenhurts and @philadelphiaeagles for the welcome home.”
A few days ago, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts posted a video message on the team’s social media where he mentioned astronaut Christina Koch and said the Artemis II crew is an “inspiration.”
He ends the message by saying “See you soon here in Philly.”
During the mission, photos circulated of Koch from the International Space Station back in 2022, showing her watching an Eagles game and wearing a Phillies jersey.
Although Koch is originally from Michigan, she is a true Philadelphia sports fan.
Koch and her fellow Artemis II crew members — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — traveled a total of 694,481 miles, making their lunar flyby the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth.
The previous distance record was set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
After 10 days in space, the Artemis II crew safely returned to Earth on Friday, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.