Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is set to lift off on his first mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, April 8. Launch is scheduled for 1:47 a.m. EDT (0547 UTC) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Kim was selected to become a NASA astronaut in 2017; before joining NASA’s astronaut corps, Kim completed more than 100 combat operations as a Navy SEAL. A dual-designated naval aviator and flight surgeon, Kim received his doctorate in medicine from Harvard Medical School.
Kim will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, accompanied by cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, where they will spend approximately eight months on the International Space Station before returning to Earth in December. Kim will serve as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 72/73 crew, supporting scientific research to help us learn how to live in space while making life better back on Earth.
After liftoff, MS-27 is scheduled to dock with the station at 5:03 a.m. EST (0903 UTC), with hatch opening at approximately 7:20 a.m. EST (1120 UTC). Watch live rendezvous coverage on NASA: https://plus.nasa.gov
Get the latest mission updates: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Credit: NASA