PA/@Astro_Christina/TwitterDogs often go nuts when their owners return after leaving them for just half an hour, so I’m sure you can imagine how happy this dog was to see her owner after nearly a year.
Dog owner and, y’know, record-breaking astronaut Christina Koch was in space for a whopping 328 consecutive days. So it’s fair to say she was away from her four-legged friend for quite a while.
While Christina may have broken records during her stint in space, the video she’s recently shared on Twitter of her reuniting with her dog is breaking hearts.
@Astro_Christina/TwitterIn the adorable video, Christina’s dog – named LBD – bounces off the walls and rapidly wags her tail as she realises her human is finally home.
Christina tweeted the video with the caption: ‘Not sure who was more excited. Glad she remembers me after a year!’
You can watch the heartwarming moment unfold below:
Not sure who was more excited. Glad she remembers me after a year! pic.twitter.com/sScVXHMHJn
— Christina H Koch (@Astro_Christina) February 13, 2020
Talking to reporters at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astronaut spoke about her reunion with her beloved pet.
She said:
We call her LBD, little brown dog, she’s from the Humane Society and she couldn’t be sweeter, and yes, she was very excited, I was very excited, I’m not sure who was more excited!
[…] You know it’s just a symbol of coming back to the people and places that you love, to see your favourite animal.
Prior to reuniting with her dog, Christina was part of the first ‘all-woman spacewalk’ alongside fellow astronaut Jessica Meir.
PA images NASA spoke of the importance of Christina and Jessica’s trip to space, and how it’s a ‘milestone worth noting’.
The space station said:
The first all-woman spacewalk is a milestone worth noting and celebrating as the agency looks forward to putting the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 with NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program. Our achievements provide inspiration to students around the world, proving that hard work can lead you to great heights, and all students should be able to see themselves in those achievements.
NASAChristina also spoke of its importance.
She added:
In the end, I do think it’s important, and I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past women haven’t always been at the table.
It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role. That can lead in turn to increased chance for success. There are a lot of people who derive motivation from inspiring stories of people who look like them, and I think it’s an important story to tell.
Christina’s recording-breaking flight covered 5,248 orbits and 139 million miles, and was just 12 days short of the US single-flight endurance record set by former astronaut Scott Kelly. She now ranks No. 7 on the list of most experienced NASA astronauts and 50th in the world.
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Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.