Astronaut Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim has departed NASA after nine years with the agency to return to full-time active military duty with the U.S. Navy. Kim’s departure from the civilian space agency marks the end of a nearly decade-long tenure that included ground operations and a long-duration spaceflight mission.
Astronaut Jonny Kim Departs NASA After Nine Years
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated, Jonny Kim represents the very best of NASA, a person who continually pushed the boundaries of exploration while inspiring countless others.
Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, added in a statement, Jonny has been an integral part of the agency, and his immeasurable impact will be felt for generations to come.
International Space Station Mission and Milestones
During his time with the agency, Kim completed one spaceflight mission. In April 2025, he launched to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73, alongside Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Kim and his crewmates lived and worked in space for 245 days. According to Space, the trio orbited Earth 3,920 times and traveled nearly 104 million miles while conducting scientific investigations spanning technology development, Earth science, biology, and human research. Kim also served as the U.S. Operating Segment lead for the second half of Expedition 73, overseeing operations across international modules before returning to Earth in December.
Military Background and Prior Accomplishments
Before joining NASA’s 2017 astronaut class—the 22nd in the agency’s history, whose members nicknamed themselves “The Turtles”—Kim built an extensive military and medical background. Born in Los Angeles, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2002 after graduating from high school, eventually training as a hospital corpsman and completing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training to join SEAL Team Three.
Over the course of more than 100 combat operations, Kim served as a medic, sniper, navigator, and point man. NASA officials noted that he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat “V,” and numerous additional commendations. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard, training as a physician, naval aviator, and flight surgeon.
Following his mandatory two years of astronaut candidate training, Kim served as a Capsule Communicator (CapCom) in Mission Control at JSC and contributed to Artemis program development by leading the astronaut crew operations branch and serving as increment lead for Expedition 65.
Transition Back to Active Duty
Kim is returning to active duty to finish out the remainder of his military career within naval aviation training. Reflecting on his tenure, Kim said in a NASA statement, Contributing to space exploration and serving NASA has been the honor of a lifetime.
Throughout my career, I’ve learned that beyond the missions, the training, and the hardware, success always comes down to the people,
Kim added. They are our greatest asset, and leading with love and empathy is how we achieve the impossible.
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