Christina Hammock Koch, an astronaut, recently returned from a 10-day mission around the moon. Her dog, Sadie Lou, was especially excited to see her.
On April 1, 2026, Koch served as a mission specialist on Artemis II. After 10 days in space, she became the first woman to travel beyond low orbit. She circled the moon with fellow crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen.
Koch landed in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10. She then visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a Q&A session. Soon after, she went home to Galveston, where Sadie was waiting.
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Christina Hammock Koch shared a video on Instagram from her home cameras. It shows Sadie seeing Koch and her husband, Robert Koch, approach their front door. Sadie's tail wags quickly. As soon as the door opens, she runs to Koch and then grabs her favorite toy.
Koch later posted videos of her and Sadie playing on the beach.
Koch captioned the video, "I’m still pretty sure I was the happier side of this reunion." She added, "Sadie taught me everything I needed to know about being an emotional support animal. Didn’t expect that would come in handy."
Sadie Lou is a rescue dog, whom Koch calls her "little brown dog" or "LBD." The two first gained attention in 2020. That's when Koch posted Sadie's reaction to her return from a 328-day stay on the International Space Station.
One fan commented, "You’ve traveled all the way to the moon, you see the Earth as a tiny dot, and then you come back and you’re on a beach with your dog. That is the immense gratitude of life."
Another fan wrote, "Sadie has no idea how far you travelled to see her again. Love this so much."
