(Article updated on April 8, 2025, with video footage of rocket launch and hatch opening)
Astronaut Jonny Kim is the first Korean American to go to space. He’s also arguably one of the most remarkable individuals you’ll ever hear about. On the eve of his first launch into space, we reflect on a man who has excelled in three of the most selective and challenging institutions in the world as a Harvard trained medical doctor, Navy SEAL, and NASA astronaut. Achieving just one of these feats would place someone among the elite, yet Kim has mastered all three.
The depth of his accomplishments becomes even more extraordinary against the backdrop of his early life, fraught with challenges and traumas. From the violent turbulence of his early home life in Los Angeles to the frontier of space, Jonathan Yong Kim shows us the power of the human will and its endless capacity for self-reinvention.
Childhood Scars
Born in 1984 to first-generation Korean American parents in Los Angeles, Jonny Kim’s early life was shadowed by domestic violence. His father, an alcoholic, was a source of constant fear and torment. Kim recounts those early years with a sort of detached wonder: “I was a scared little boy,” he admits, “Scared of the world, scared of relationships, scared of talking to people, of having my own opinions.” His childhood was a battle for survival, marked by moments so bleak that he had no time to dream about any kind of future.
At the lowest point of his childhood, Kim’s mother was being brutally beaten by his intoxicated father when the police arrived. After hiding from the police, his father was killed that night as he resisted arrest.
Instead of burying memories of the trauma, Kim says, “All those experiences, while they were terrible at that time, I wouldn’t trade any of that for anything. I would never want to trade that because everything that happened helped me to be the person I am today.”
The Best Decision Jonny Kim Ever Made
Kim’s story is one of overcoming. The same boy who feared the world found a peculiar solace in the rigors and structure of military life. At sixteen, he heard about the Navy SEALs, and something about their creed, their stoic valor, and their quiet professionalism struck a chord with him. After high school, Kim chose not to go to college and instead enlisted in the Navy. “Going into the Navy was the best decision I ever made in my life because it completely transformed that scared boy who didn’t have any dreams to someone who started to believe in himself.”
Joining the SEALs, he underwent some of the most grueling training regimens known to the military. He then served as a soldier, combat medic, sniper, navigator, and ultimately, a decorated hero with more than a hundred combat operations across two Middle Eastern deployments.
An Unforeseen Path to Medicine
The battlefield proved to be an incredible training ground for what came next for Kim. The brutal realities of war steered him toward a path of healing. He attended college after the Navy and then studied at Harvard Medical School, where the former Navy SEAL trained to save lives on the battlefield of the emergency room. Here, too, he excelled, driven by a deep-seated desire to serve. But becoming a medical doctor was only a part of Jonny Kim’s remarkable journey.
To Infinity and Beyond
In 2017, another unexpected turn took him toward the stars. After graduating from medical school, Kim was working as a resident in emergency medicine when he applied to become an astronaut. After 2 rounds of call backs and 9 days of tests, interviews, and screenings, he was one of 12 people selected by NASA from a field of 18,000 applicants to be a part of Astronaut Group 22. Kim once again embraced a role that few could dream of.
Achievement via Small Steps
Now, at the age of 41, Jonny Kim is embarking on a space mission that symbolizes not only the pinnacle of his own career but also the aspirations of every child who has ever looked up at the stars and dreamed of something more. He claims that his impressive resume was largely accidental, but each step involved a huge challenge that Kim chose to accept. “Everything I’ve done is an accident,” he said in a recent interview. “Being a SEAL was an accident, going to medical school, being a physician, being an astronaut, those were all accidents. Not part of the plan at all. All I wanted to do as a grownup was protect my mother and my brother from my father who was very abusive.”
Jonny Kim often talks about how every great achievement is built by a series of small steps, not by trying to achieve something grand all at once.
Life in Space
On April 8, 2025, Kim launches into space from Kazakhstan with two other astronauts at 1:47 am EDT. They dock at the International Space Station at approximately 5:03 am. The trio will spend eight months aboard the orbital laboratory conducting research before returning to Earth in December 2025.
Live launch and docking coverage can be seen on NASA+:
(All times listed are in U.S. Eastern)
Tuesday, April 8
12:45 a.m. | Launch coverage of Soyuz MS-27 to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch scheduled for 1:47 a.m. Video of launch below with a special feature on Jonny Kim starting at the 10-minute mark. Actual lift-off can be seen at the 1-hour 4-minute mark.
4:15 a.m. | Docking coverage of Soyuz MS-27 to the International Space Station. Docking scheduled for 5:03 a.m. Stream on NASA+
7 a.m. | Coverage of the hatch opening and welcoming remarks by the Soyuz MS-27 crew at the International Space Station.
Watch the hatch opening and Jonny Kim entering the ISS at the 30-minute mark in the below video:
Legacy of Hope
Kim’s life is one that inspires all, but most of all gives hope to anyone who has ever faced extreme adversity in their lives. His message is clear: no matter where you come from, no matter how dire your beginnings, you have the power to shape your destiny. Jonny Kim is now a husband and father of three. With this historic trip to space, he carries the hopes of his family and nation and the collective aspirations of all who seek to redefine their limits. Best of luck, Dr. Kim!
