Launch of spacecraft carrying Korean-American 'Joni Kim'... Conducting scientific research and experiments on the ISS

Soyuz MS-27 Launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
Carrying Johnny Kim and Russian Astronauts to the ISS

Korean-American astronaut Johnny Kim (41), affiliated with the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has embarked on a spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).

At 2:47 PM on the 8th, the Russian Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft carrying Johnny Kim, Russian astronauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Aleksey Zubritskiy, was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft is scheduled to attempt docking with the ISS at 5:03 AM Eastern Time (6:03 PM Korean Time) on the same day.

NASA astronaut Johnny Kim is waving his hand at the Soyuz MS-27 launch send-off ceremony. Photo by TASS Yonhap News

They will stay on the ISS for about eight months during this mission, conducting scientific research and technology demonstration tasks before returning to Earth.

Johnny Kim was born in 1984 to a Korean immigrant family in Los Angeles (LA), California. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, served as a combat medic and sniper in Iraq, and was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017.