N.C. Labor Department Host Artemis II Astronaut Christina Koch
NASA astronaut Christina Koch will visit Raleigh to highlight workplace safety and skilled trades driving lunar exploration.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- Aug 13, 2026
State labor officials are hosting NASA astronaut and North Carolina native Christina Koch to highlight the intersection of workplace safety, technical innovation and skilled trades in modern spaceflight.
The upcoming event, titled "From North Carolina Workplaces to the Moon: Safety, Skilled Trades, and the Artemis II Workforce," aims to connect local workforce development with deep-space exploration. Students, industry leaders and trade professionals will gather to examine how foundational technical skills contribute to national aerospace achievements.
Koch was selected as a crew member for NASA's Artemis II mission, marking the first crewed flight around the moon in more than five decades. Her career path from North Carolina to the astronaut corps serves as a central focal point for state programs encouraging technical education and vocational careers.
Event organizers plan to showcase pathways across several key sectors, including advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction and technology. Discussions will focus on the necessity of maintaining rigorous workplace safety standards to support high-risk technical operations and complex manufacturing supply chains.
The program intends to demonstrate how specialized trade skills and workforce development initiatives directly support both local economic growth and large-scale technological endeavors.
Image courtesy of NASA.
About the Author
Jesse Jacobs is assistant editor of OHSOnline.com.