April 8 (UPI) -- The three-person crew who launched into space aboard a Soyuz rocket to work aboard the International Space Station have arrived, docked and made their way aboard.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky., docked their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft with the ISS at 4:57 a.m. EDT and then opened the hatch at 7:28 a.m. EDT Tuesday, after a 262-mile, three-hour, 10-minute flight that started with a takeoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The trio will now join Expedition 72 and 73 crew members already aboard the ISS and will spend eight months there before heading back to Earth in December.
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Kim is slated to assist with research subjects that include the examination of material flammability in microgravity and the testing of new space-related technologies.
The trip was Kim's first spaceflight, and NASA welcomed him aboard the ISS with a post to X that proclaimed, "Welcome to the station, @JonnyKimUSA!"
"While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth," said NASA in an August 2024 press release.
A U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and dual naval aviator and flight surgeon, Kim, who also served as a Navy SEAL, was selected as an astronaut in 2017.
With their arrival, the space station's population grows to 10 -- at least for the next 11 days. On April 19, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner are scheduled to depart the ISS for Earth.
"At NASA, we're renowned for engineering excellence, groundbreaking research and pushing the boundaries of what's possible," Kim posted to X Monday, "But what truly sets us apart is our people. It's not the rockets, planes, satellites or science that define this agency -- it's the remarkable individuals who bring it all to life -- always has been and always will be."
