NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, a former Navy SEAL and Harvard Medical School graduate, has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. Alongside cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, Kim, 41, completed a three-hour journey to reach the space station.
Kim’s Soyuz MS-27/73S ferry ship launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday morning, with the crew experiencing nominal operations throughout their ascent. The rocket successfully deployed its solar panels and navigation antennas before rendezvousing with the ISS at 4:57 a.m., 260 miles above western Russia.
As part of an eight-month rotation, Kim will join veteran commander Ryzhikov and rookie cosmonaut Zubritsky for their stay aboard the station. The new crew replaces outgoing NASA astronauts Donald Pettit, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, who are set to return to Earth on April 19.
Kim’s journey to becoming an astronaut began as a Navy SEAL, where he participated in over 100 combat operations before joining Harvard Medical School. He became interested in space exploration after watching NASA’s Orion moonship test flight in 2014, and was later selected from 18,000 applications for NASA’s astronaut training program.
Kim expressed his excitement to serve on the ISS, stating that as an astronaut, he will be “a jack of all trades” trained to perform various tasks. He hopes to venture outside the station for a spacewalk at some point during his stay and is looking forward to serving in any capacity.
The Soyuz spacecraft’s reliability and testing history have made Kim happy to fly with the Russian crew, who speak excellent English and have welcomed him aboard with friendship and trust.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jonny-kim-nasa-physician-astronaut-2-cosmonauts-space-station