After spending a record-breaking 328 days in space, NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth and reunited with the furriest member of her family: her pup, LBD (which stands for Little Brown Dog).
Yesterday (Feb. 13), Koch shared a video of the heartwarming reunion on Twitter and Instagram. “Not sure who was more excited. Glad she remembers me after a year!” Koch wrote on Twitter alongside the video. And, in watching the video itself, they both look thrilled to be together again.
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The video begins by showing LBD inside Koch’s home, on her hind legs with her front paws and face pressed up against a glass-paneled door. LBD seemed to see Koch through the door and couldn’t wait for her to get to the door, her tail wagging wildly behind her.
When Koch opens the door, LBD sprints out to greet her before Koch even has a chance to get inside. Koch walks into the house and kneels on the floor, snuggling with her giddy pup. LBD seems positively overwhelmed by the return of her human companion.
“To see your favorite animal is a symbol of coming back to the people and places you love,” Koch said about the gleeful reunion and her return to Earth in a news conference on Wednesday (Feb. 12).
This delightful interaction between human and pup was one of many incredible moments that Koch had after returning from almost a year in space — she broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
Koch’s delight is apparent in the photos of her immediately after landing in which she is beaming from ear to ear.
“After 328 days in space, the first six days back on Earth were full of just as much wonder and excitement,” she said at the news conference. “We all live on a wonderful planet and it’s great to be back.”
A surfer who has spoken about how much she loves living near the beach, Koch was quick to visit the ocean after reuniting with LBD and her husband, Robert Koch.
“And then there was this,” Koch wrote on Twitter next to a photo of her barefoot, toes in the sand, arms spread wide, thoroughly enjoying the beach.
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