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She will return on Feb. 6th after 328 days in space, first landing in Kazakhstan before taking a NASA Gulfstream plane back to the United States.

NASA says they extended Koch’s mission so scientists could gather information on long-duration space flights -- missions that go longer than the average six months -- which could help guide research on future expeditions.

\"PHOTO:
Dmitri Lovetsky/AP, Pool
PHOTO: U.S. astronaut Christina Koch, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), speaks with her relatives through a safety glass in Kazakhstan, March 14, 2019.
>

Koch said she sees gathering this research as her contribution to science.

\"Just by virtue of being here and all of the physiological and human research studies that I’m a part of, it’s pushing the envelope on what we can say is normal for a long duration mission,\" she said.

Koch, a Montana resident and an avid hiker and rock climber, said she's advocated for a study on the differences between women and men when it comes to the longer missions

\"I think the challenge is actually remaining vigilant, remembering that you really are surrounded by a hostile environment,\" she said. \"And that a single emergency or a single string of failures could bring you into a chance where you have to exercise some of that really important training that we had on the ground.\"

\"PHOTO:
NASA via AP
PHOTO: Astronauts NASA's Andrew Morgan and Italy's Luca Parmitano are seen on a spacewalk, Jan. 25, 2020. The astronauts worked to complete repairs to a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station.
>

Koch and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir accomplished another feat back in 2019 when they completed the first ever all-female spacewalk, stepping outside of the International Space Station together. Two more spacewalks by the pair followed the groundbreaking first for Americans.

LIVE NOW: Tune in to watch the first #AllWomanSpacewalk in human history! 👩🏻‍🚀

Starting at approximately 7:50am ET, @Astro_Christina & @Astro_Jessica venture into the vacuum of space to replace a failed power controller. Watch: https://t.co/2SIb9YXlRh

— NASA (@NASA) October 18, 2019

In breaking the gender barrier, Koch hopes the achievement becomes more common.

\"I think it is wonderful, actually, that the third time around it’s already become commonplace,\" she said. \"We recognize now that we’re doing the job the same as any of our colleagues and we’re all excelling.\"

She added, \"We are held to the same standards, very high standards.\"

ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.

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