NASA astronaut Christina Koch returning to Earth after record space station mission

FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Christina Koch of the U.S. gestures after donning space suits shortly before their launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. astronaut Christina Koch, who led the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, was due to return to Earth on Thursday after a record stay aboard the International Space Station, capping a busy mission that could yield key insights into deep-space travel.

Koch, 41, was scheduled to climb into a Russian Soyuz capsule docked at the station with two other returning crew members and depart at 9:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday (0230 GMT on Thursday) after logging 328 days on the orbiting laboratory.