NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim and Cosmonauts Dock with ISS

A Russian Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:57 a.m. EDT on April 8, 2025, following a flawless three-hour flight from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The Soyuz MS-27/73S crew (left to right): NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, commander Sergey Ryzhikov and flight engineer Alexey Zubritsky. Credit: NASA

The mission, which launched at 1:47 a.m. EDT, underscores continued U.S.-Russian cooperation in space despite geopolitical tensions, with the crew set to conduct over 50 scientific experiments during their eight-month stay.

The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft autonomously docked to the station’s Prichal module as the ISS orbited 260 miles above western Russia.

Veteran commander Sergey Ryzhikov, making his third spaceflight, led the crew alongside first-time astronauts Zubritsky and Kim, a former Navy SEAL and Harvard-trained physician.

The trio’s arrival temporarily increased the ISS crew to 10 members, joining Expedition 72 astronauts including NASA’s Donald Pettit and Anne McClain. The Soyuz MS-26 crew, which arrived in September 2024, will depart on April 19, concluding their 219-day mission and transitioning command to Expedition 73.

Credit: NASA

Marking a shift in Russian spaceflight protocols, this mission extends crew rotations to eight months—up from the traditional six—to study prolonged microgravity effects on human health. Kim, Zubritsky, and Ryzhikov are scheduled to return to Earth on December 9, 2025, after conducting experiments in biology, physics, and technology demonstrations critical for future lunar and Mars missions.

Kim’s path to space reflects an extraordinary commitment to service. A decorated Navy SEAL with over 100 combat missions, he later earned a medical degree from Harvard and joined NASA’s 2017 astronaut class.

The launch coincided with the 80th anniversary of World War II’s conclusion, with the Soyuz rocket featuring commemorative insignia.

While space remains a rare collaborative arena between the U.S. and Russia amid sanctions over Ukraine, the mission highlights the ISS’s role as a diplomacy-through-science model. NASA and Roscosmos have maintained operational coordination to ensure crew safety and mission continuity.

The Soyuz MS-27 mission faced no reported anomalies during its accelerated two-orbit rendezvous. Engineers at Baikonur completed rigorous pre-launch preparations, including propellant loading and spacecraft-rocket integration, to meet the tight schedule.

Kim’s participation in this mission reinforces NASA’s reliance on Soyuz for crew transport alongside commercial partners like SpaceX, ensuring redundancy in human spaceflight capabilities.