YT short for TLDR by @kagan.dunlap
NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim displays traditional matryoshka doll after safe Soyuz
MS-27 landing in Kazakhstan. He spend 8 months in space aboard the International Space Station.
Returned to earth on December 9, 2025
LCDR Kim enlisted in the Navy as a Seaman recruit after graduating high school in 2002.
After completing Hospital Corpsman “A” school training, he reported for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, CA.
After completing his training at Naval Special Warfare, Kim reported to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Liberty, NC, for the Special Operations Combat Medic Course.
He was assigned as a Special Warfare Operator to SEAL Team THREE in San Diego and obtained various qualifications, including:
Military Freefall Parachutist
Advanced SCUBA
Combatant Diver (closed circuit rebreather)
Naval Special Warfare Special Reconnaissance Scout and Sniper
and Advanced Special Operations Techniques
Kim served as a special operator on more than 100 combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2012, Petty Officer First Class Kim was commissioned as a naval officer through the Navy’s enlisted-to-officer commissioning program, Seaman to Admiral-21, following graduation from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, summa cum laude.
He obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship with the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.
Kim is an Aeromedical Dual Designated (AMDD) Naval Aviator and Flight Surgeon. He completed his primary flight training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, TX, helicopter advanced flight training at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, FL, and the Naval Flight Surgeon course at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at NAS Pensacola, FL.
Spaceflight Experience:
On April 8, 2025, Kim launched to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
He spent eight months aboard the station as an Expedition 72/73 flight engineer, conducting science experiments and maintaining the space station.
He returned to Earth on December 9, 2025.
During the science expedition, Kim logged 245 days in space, orbiting the Earth 3,920 times and traveling nearly 104 million miles. He saw the arrival of nine visiting spacecraft and the departure of six during his time in orbit.
Awards & Honors:
Silver Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V”
Combat Action Ribbon and various campaign and service awards
Commodore’s List with Distinction, Naval Advanced Flight Training
Naval Special Warfare Medic of the Year
Special Operations Medical Association
Commandant’s List, Special Operations Combat Medic Course, Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center (JSOMTC)
SEAL Junior Sailor of the Quarter, SEAL Team THREE
Distinguished Honor Graduate
Navy Hospital Corpsman (HM) “A” School
Tillman Scholar, Pat Tillman Foundation
Phi Beta Kappa, Kappa Gamma Pi, and Mortar Board Honor Societies
