Astronaut Jonny Kim leaves NASA, will return to active military duty
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Jonny Kim is leaving NASA to continue his military career.
The 42-year-old astronaut, who has one of the most jaw-dropping resumes of any person alive, is departing today (Aug. 27) after nine years with the agency. He has one mission under his belt, a long-duration flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
“Jonny has been an integral part of the agency, and his immeasurable impact will be felt for generations to come,” Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, said in a statement today. “From advancing groundbreaking science to inspiring the next generation, Jonny has been an incredible source of inspiration to our nation. His exceptional talent, determination, and grit will leave a lasting legacy at NASA.”
NASA picked Kim as part of its 2017 astronaut class, the 22nd in the agency’s history. He and his 11 fellow selectees nicknamed themselves “The Turtles.”
Kim was already incredibly accomplished before he got the NASA nod. He’s a physician with a medical degree from Harvard. He served in the U.S. military, as a dual-designated naval aviator and flight surgeon as well as a Navy SEAL — a commando trained to conduct special operations on sea, air and land (hence the acronymic name).
“Over the course of more than 100 combat operations, he served as a medic, sniper, navigator and point man, earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat ‘V,’ and numerous additional commendations,” NASA officials said in the same statement.
After completing his mandatory two years of NASA astronaut training, Kim served as a CAPCOM (“capsule communicator”) at JSC, relaying information between Mission Control and crewmembers on the ISS.
“Kim also contributed to Artemis program development through his work in the astronaut exploration branch, leading the astronaut crew operations branch, and serving as increment lead for Expedition 65,” NASA officials said in the same statement. “His experiences as a Navy SEAL, physician and naval aviator provided unique perspectives in mission operations and crew support.”
In April 2025, Kim got the chance to go to space himself. He launched to the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
The trio lived and worked in space for 245 days, circling Earth 3,920 times and traveling a total of nearly 104 million miles (167 million kilometers), according to NASA. During that time, Kim conducted a variety of scientific experiments that could advance technological development and aid space exploration down the road.
Kim, Ryzhikov and Zubritsky returned to Earth in December, touching down in their Soyuz on the steppe of Kazakhstan .
Kim isn’t walking off into the sunset now. Far from it: He’s going back to active duty, “to finish out the remainder of his military career within naval aviation training,” according to NASA.
“Contributing to space exploration and serving NASA has been the honor of a lifetime,” Kim said in the same NASA statement.
“Throughout my career, I’ve learned that beyond the missions, the training, and the hardware, success always comes down to the people,” he added. “They are our greatest asset, and leading with love and empathy is how we achieve the impossible. I look forward to carrying my commitment to service, my enduring love for space and technology, and the hard-earned lessons of this past decade into my next chapter to make a meaningful impact on humanity’s future.”
Kim isn’t the only astronaut to hang up his spacesuit in 2026. NASA’s Mike Fincke stepped away this year, as did Canadian Jeremy Hansen, who was one of the four crewmembers on NASA’s Artemis II flight around the moon.
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