American astronaut Jonny Kim, along with two Russian cosmonauts, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan. Kim, a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and former Navy SEAL, arrived at the ISS for an eight-month orbital mission. This marks his first spaceflight, as well as the first for Russian cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky and the third for cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov. The Soyuz spacecraft docked at the space station’s Russian-built Prichal module after a three-hour journey.
The arrival of Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky begins Expedition 73 at the ISS, where they will be joined by the four spacefarers of the Crew-10 mission. The crew will assist in maintaining the station and performing scientific experiments to support future missions to the moon and deep space. The recent SpaceX mission Crew-10 played a significant role in paving the way for NASA astronauts who flew on the Boeing Starliner to return home with the Crew-9 contingent.
Kim’s background includes a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. After being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, he underwent extensive training and has since supported various mission and crew operations. The Expedition 73 crew will continue the ISS’s important work in assisting commercial companies in developing space transportation services and conducting research for NASA’s crewed deep-space missions.
Note: The image is for illustrative purposes only and is not the original image of the presented article.
