Yoshiu Hoon
So how did he end up singing with Ringo Starr on his “Vertical Man” album, managing Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, and running a space camp for veteran astronauts at the Como Hotel & Resort as a “space manager”?
This is the career trajectory of Florida resident Kristina Koff. She will say that it wasn't her plan, but “my rock star lifestyle prepared me for life with rock star astronauts.”
She toured the world as a singer-songwriter under the name Christina Rasch, then left her music career to manage media personalities like John Tessie. Then, “the universe brought Buzz Aldrin and me together.”
“I knew nothing about space, but the people at Buzz wanted someone with branding and event skills,” Korp said.
She began working with Aldrin on January 2, 2008. “I wasn't alive when he walked on the moon, and I thought he was just this quiet old guy who walked on the moon. He had such a huge personality, he was such an iconic figure, and he had such a huge vision for humanity.”
Korp worked with Aldrin for 10 years, and the biggest lesson she's learned along the way is that there's always another way—and to never take no for an answer.
“If something didn't work out, Buzz always found another way. He was persistent,” she said. “It was an eye-opening experience for me.
Astronaut Nicole Stott teaches an art lesson to children attending space camp. Photo courtesy of Matt Porteous
A space with a purpose
This approach helped Korp found Purpose Entertainment to promote space exploration and highlight women in space.
“Through Buzz, I got to meet a lot of women who were unknown, and I thought I had to do something about this issue,” she said.
One of those women is Nicole Stott, a veteran of multiple NASA missions known as an “artistic astronaut” and author of “Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet — And Our Mission to Protect It” (Seal Press, 2021). Korf and Stott are behind the nonprofit Space for a Better World Foundation, which organizes space camps at Como Hotels and Resorts.
Since 2022, Space Camp has been held at several COMO resorts, as well as a Singapore pop-up event.
Last summer, camps were held at COMO Maalifushi in the Maldives, COMO Point Yamu in Phuket, Thailand, and COMO Uma Canggu in Bali, providing first-hand knowledge about space from Stott and Sarah Sabri. Sabri is the world’s second citizen astronaut sent by Space for Humanity and the first Arab woman in space.
This August, Stott and Cope will return to Como Maalifushi for another space camp.
Doris Goh, Como’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “I first got to know Christina when she was organising the Apollo 16 50th Anniversary Gala at the London Science Museum (2022). We sponsored the event, which provided a stay for 11 astronauts at the museum, and we began our collaboration in 2021.
“I came up with the idea of Space Camp to inspire children and adults and enhance the guest experience in Como. Christina brought Nicole Stott on board, and she was the best person to work with children. Both women were so generous with their time to be with us in Como.”
Korp elaborated further on the partnership: “When we first talked to Como about collaborating, they asked us what space had to do with us, and we highlighted the ways in which they were using space technology in the resort. The water purifiers were developed to purify water in space, the memory foam in the beds is the same material NASA uses in seats to make astronauts’ landings easier. It’s in everything we use, the beds, the shoes, the neck pillows.
“Our mission is to promote space and sustainability, highlight the connection between space and Earth, and communicate how space technology can benefit life on Earth and be used effectively for sustainability.”
Korf (left) and Stott at the Space Camp at COMO Maalifushi in the Maldives. They will be holding another camp there in August. Photo courtesy of Matt Porteous
Awe-inspiring
Korp said the initial space camp was initially aimed at children, “to encourage them to be active at the resort rather than using the devices.” But since then, adults and children alike have taken part in a variety of activities, including designing bottle rockets and creating space art.
“Our goal is to connect people who are curious about space with people who are serious about space, and to get them interested in how space technology is being used on Earth (GPS, cell phones), how we can monitor the health of coral reefs from space, how we can provide data on polar ice caps and ocean temperatures, how we can harness solar energy to provide clean energy. This is especially important if you're interested in sustainability. How can we use space technology to protect the planet?
“There are a lot of things happening in the universe that people don’t know about. We want to be that connection.”
When Stott emailed his astronaut colleague in orbit asking him to take photos of Bali from space, Korp remembered Bali's space camp.
“She emailed the photo to Nicole, and Nicole showed it to the participants… and when you see it, it changes your perception of the planet,” Korp said. “It’s not just about inspiring kids, it’s also about influencing decision makers to take better care of the planet.”
A new perspective
An avid traveler who has visited 57 countries and all seven continents, Korf looks forward to a continued collaboration with Como.
“This is our first ongoing partnership with a travel brand, and we are united in our purpose to promote space and sustainability,” she said.
Korp said he fully supports the progress being made in space tourism, “especially if it changes the way humans view space.”
“We need to change the perspective, not just make it a trip for the wealthy,” she said. That’s why she’s more supportive of Space Perspective’s balloon flights, which she said “will allow us to see the Earth for a much longer period of time” than companies like Virgin Galactic can do (faster flights).
“We want to create a community of space explorers who are good for the Earth and our planet,” Space Perspective’s Edita Tepper told Web in Travel, a website owned by Travel Weekly’s parent company Northstar Travel Group. (Space Perspective’s flights cost about $125,000 per seat, compared to $450,000 for Virgin Galactic.)
Korp admits that he has never personally experienced space travel, but has been on six zero-gravity rides. Purpose Entertainment organizes private trips for these rides, with proceeds going to the Space for a Better World foundation.
So far, she has organized four charter flights in the U.S. and one in France. Tickets costing $10,000 include flights and private dinners with astronauts such as Stott and Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke. The next flight is scheduled for October 13 in Italy, where a French airliner will offer the country’s first zero gravity ride.
