"Space-Grade Tube Spaghetti Surprisingly Tastes Good"…Vivid Training Scene of the First Korean-American Astronaut [Reading Science]

Korean-American Johnny Kim, NASA Astronaut, Vividly Shares Training Scenes on SNS
Candidate for Humanity's Second Moon Landing Astronaut After 2025

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim. Photo by Johnny Kim's Facebook account.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Johnny Kim, the only Korean-American astronaut pilot at NASA, has recently been actively sharing his training updates on social networking services (SNS), attracting attention. In particular, he has shown his willingness to communicate with Koreans, his "bloodline," by posting photos along with awkwardly translated Korean text.

The most recent update Kim posted was on the 21st (local time), sharing his impressions after wearing a pressure suit used during low-gravity training and eating astronaut-specific tube food. After eating spaghetti from a tube through the helmet port of the pressure suit, he wrote along with a photo, "Surprisingly delicious."

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim revealed space tube spaghetti. Photo by Johnny Kim's Facebook account.

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim is eating tube spaghetti. Photo by Johnny Kim's Facebook account.

Previously, he posted photos and text of training scenes conducted on the WB-57 training aircraft, which NASA uses to help astronauts adapt to weightlessness. The WB-57 is a modified B-57 high-altitude bomber formerly used by the U.S. Air Force. NASA flies astronauts on this aircraft above the "Armstrong Line" at altitudes over 63,000 feet (19.2 km) to conduct training that helps them adapt to conditions such as hypoxia and decompression sickness (DCS) caused by sudden gravity changes. In another post, Kim introduced the history and performance of the WB-57 aircraft and also uploaded photos of the S1034 pressure suit worn inside the aircraft.

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim (left). Photo by Johnny Kim's Facebook account.

Kim was born in 1984 in Seosan, Chungnam, and later immigrated to California, USA. He overcame hardships including domestic violence from his father. In the mid-2000s, he volunteered for the Navy SEALs and gained over 100 combat experiences in the Middle East, including the Iraq War. After his military service, he attended the University of San Diego and Harvard Medical School and is currently serving as a Navy medical officer. In 2017, he was selected as part of NASA's 22nd astronaut pilot class. He has been chosen as a candidate astronaut for the Artemis program, humanity's second moon landing exploration mission expected to take place after 2025, and is currently undergoing training.

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim (left) is posing in front of a WB-57 aircraft used for astronaut training. Photo by Johnny Kim's Facebook account.

Pressure suit used by NASA for astronaut training. Photo by Joni Kim Facebook account.