Jonny Kim, a 42-year-old Korean-American astronaut, is leaving NASA, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he has served since 2017. NASA announced on August 27 that Jonny Kim will conclude his work at the agency on that day and return to his position as a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander.
Jonny Kim is the first person of Korean heritage to serve as an astronaut. He arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) last April (2025) and spent eight months there conducting scientific research and experiments. During his time on the ISS, he orbited the Earth 3,920 times, traveling approximately 167.37 million kilometers.
Jonny Kim stated, “Contributing to space exploration and working at NASA has been the greatest honor of my life,” adding, “Based on the hard-earned lessons of the past decade, I will strive to make a meaningful impact on humanity’s future.”
Jonny Kim has an impressive career trajectory, overcoming a challenging family environment to become a Navy officer, a medical doctor, and eventually an astronaut. Born into a Korean-American immigrant family, he experienced his father, who was addicted to alcohol and violent toward his family, being fatally shot by police during a drunk disturbance in his childhood.
After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Navy and was deployed to the Iraq War as a member of the elite Navy SEALs, participating in over 100 special operations. Witnessing the dire medical conditions on the battlefield, he decided to become a military doctor to improve them. He later obtained his medical license from Harvard Medical School.
Inspired by Scott Parajinseuki, a physician and astronaut he met while attending medical school, he applied to NASA and was selected as an astronaut in June 2017.
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