In what marks a significant career milestone, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is set to join the crew of the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72/73. NASA announced that Kim is slated to fly to the space station on the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, a mission scheduled to launch in March 2025 alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
During the eight-month tenure aboard the space station, Kim will serve as a flight engineer, whereby he's expected to conduct various scientific investigations and spearhead technology demonstrations primarily. These initiatives are aimed at preparing astronauts for future deep space explorations and yielding tangible benefits back on Earth. Kim's forthcoming mission is yet another stepping stone in NASA's long-term objective to understand and mitigate the hurdles of prolonged spaceflight whilst nurturing a burgeoning low Earth orbit economy with the aid of commercial partners.
An impressive biography precedes Kim's assignment. After becoming a NASA astronaut in 2017, he has diligently worked behind the scenes in mission and crew operations, encompassing roles such as the lead operations officer for Expedition 65, T-38 operations liaison, and the space station capcom chief engineer. Kim's background is not just limited to space operations. Before his time at NASA, he earned his laurels as a United States Navy lieutenant commander, a naval aviator, a flight surgeon, and even served as an enlisted Navy SEAL. His academic credentials include a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, as outlined by NASA.
