NASA astronaut to break the record for longest spacewalk

NASA astronaut Christina Koch might have to stay another 11 months on the International Space Station. This would also set a new record for the spaceflight by a woman, said NASA.

Koch, 40, reached the IS on March 14 with two other crew members. Her initial stay was planned for six months. However, the mission is now been extended until February 2020, which will topple the record held by Peggy Whitson, who spent 288 days aboard the ISS in 2016-17, NASA said.

"It feels awesome," Koch said when told her mission was being extended. "I have known that this was a possibility for a long time and it's truly a dream come true."

Jennifer Fogarty, the chief scientist of NASA's Human Research Program, said the extended mission will help gather more data about the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body and "support future missions to the Moon and Mars."

The record for an extended spaceflight by an American is held by astronaut Scott Kelly, who stayed on the ISS for 340 days in 2015-16 with Russian Mikhail Kornienko. However, the longest ever spaceflight record is held by Russia's Valery Polyakov, who spent 14 months on the Mir space station.

Besides, NASA also compared Scott Kelly's health and compared his development to his twin brother on Earth. After running both of them through a series of tests, the space agency was able to tell how prolonged stays in space could affect a human body. This data would come in handy when the astronauts will visit Mars and other planets for long periods.