Names and faces
■ After nearly 11 months in orbit, Christina Koch, the NASA astronaut holding the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, can’t wait to dig into some salsa and chips, and swim and surf in the Gulf of Mexico. Koch said that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her mission. She’s been living on the International Space Station since March and returns to Earth on Feb. 6, landing in Kazakhstan with two colleagues aboard a Russian capsule. Koch said she and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir appreciated that the Oct. 18 spacewalk could serve as an inspiration for future space explorers. “We both drew a lot of inspiration from seeing people that were reflections of ourselves as we were growing up and developing our dreams to become astronauts,” Koch said from the space station. “So to recognize that maybe we could pay that forward and serve the same for those that are up and coming was just such a highlight.” Koch’s 328-day mission will be the second-longest by an American, trailing Scott Kelly’s flight by 12 days. She’s already set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Koch said she loves her work — she conducted six spacewalks and tended to science experiments — but she also misses her friends and family. “If they could visit here, I would continue staying for a very long time,” said Koch, a firsttime space flier. “For their sake, I think that it’s probably time to head home.”
■ Ricky Martin said his coming album Movimiento is influenced by Puerto Rico’s political turmoil as people struggle to recover from Hurricane Maria and a recent 6.4-magnitude earthquake that killed one person and destroyed hundreds of homes as a 13-year recession drags on. “I’m going to use my music to carry the message of all those who aren’t being heard,” he said Monday while preparing for a concert on his native island. The 48-year-old father of four children joined in the big demonstrations last year that led Ricardo Rossello to resign as the island’s governor, and has gone on social media urging Gov. Wanda Vazquez to step down. “It would be an act of justice for our island,” he said in a video Thursday. “There are no immediate legal mechanisms for you and your entire team to leave and pay for all our suffering. But I have good news. The elections come in November, and I am certain, certain, that the people will rise up more than ever.” Martin participated in the demonstrations alongside other artists and found a new idea for the album. “When I returned to the studio, everything that I had done musically expired because I had poetic material in my head to share with the world after what happened in the streets of Puerto Rico,” he said.