It's no secret that Eagles fans are a dedicated fanbase. However, only one can say that they have watched the team from space.

The Eagles celebrated Astronaut Christina Koch at Lincoln Financial Field as the Eagles' Honorary Captain during Sunday's game against the Rams. Known for circumnavigating the moon earlier this year with the Artemis II mission and crew, Koch also holds the world record for the longest time spent on the International Space Station in one deployment, with 328 straight days.

Even while orbiting 250 miles above the Earth's surface on the International Space Station, Koch would tune in for Eagles games.

"We have the ability to have an internet connection for personal things, crew choice things they call it. It's just a way to have things that can keep you entertained on the weekends and things that you love and remind you of home," Koch said. "I did marry into it. My husband (Robert) is a diehard, long-term Eagles fan since he was a kid. I resisted a little while mainly because I didn't know a lot about football ... now I'm all in and I've been sort of addicted ever since.

"If I didn't have time to watch them because they were at a different time where I couldn't make it, I would watch the reruns on the NFL Network or something like that. And it was just such a treat when I could share that with my husband and other people on Earth. It was a way of connecting through that and to just kick back and have a little bit of fun."

While Koch had been to Eagles games in-person before, she had never been to a home game at Lincoln Financial Field until Sunday. Not only did she join the Eagles Captains for the coin toss, Koch also led nearly 70,000 fans in an E-A-G-L-E-S chant during the two-minute warning of the first half. The woman who – quite literally – had ventured out into where no human has been before, said she was scared to start the Eagles' fight song.

"It was amazing to be at this place I've heard so much about, a place I looked at from space where I knew that all these fans came together with how dedicated they are," Koch said. "Just to be surrounded by that energy, to be right next to the players on the field, to watch their focus, watch them practice, watch their preparation rituals, it was amazing. I'm completely honored to have that opportunity."

Of course, Koch herself is no stranger to performing under pressure. During her time at the International Space Station, she participated in the first-ever all-female spacewalk, watching continents fly by below her feet as the station traveled at 17,500 miles an hour. For the Artemis II mission, Koch and the other astronauts trained for nearly three years, preparing for every single scenario – everything that could go wrong.

Koch's visit to the Eagles organization was part of NASA's Inspiration Tour, following the success of the Artemis II mission where Koch and the rest of the crew orbited farther from earth than any humans before. As it turns out, one of the many inspired by Artemis II was an Eagles Cheerleader. Before Sunday's game, Megan McKeon, a second-year cheerleader, had the opportunity to tell Koch that the mission inspired her to go back to school to study planetary sciences.

"That moment was probably one of the most memorable and amazing ones of the whole game because she took the time to share her story personally with me and I could tell how much it meant to her and it truly did make an actual difference in her life," Koch said.

"I've been hearing stories like that from a lot of different people, but to meet someone firsthand that could tell me that they took the inspiration that the mission gave them and did something with it was really amazing. That was really all we ever wanted as a crew, was for it to have a positive impact on people's lives."

Koch also met Saquon Barkley on Saturday while touring the Jefferson Health Training Complex. The All-Pro running back had heard Koch was in the Eagles facility and set out to find her.

"He was super into space and the mission," Koch said.

The day after the game, the record-breaking astronaut spent time with Eagles rookies, as well as science students from the Franklin Institute on Monday. After being part of the Eagles' gameday experience, Koch got to show the Eagles rookies a glimpse into her world, answering questions before exploring the exhibits at the institute.

"Truth be told, that team inspires me, how they come into the arena and do their jobs under all that enormous, enormous pressure," Koch said. "It's been a source of inspiration. So, to be able to see it firsthand was really special." - Written by Caroline Connor