NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and two Russian crewmates arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday morning aboard a Russian spacecraft.
A Soyuz booster rocket launched as scheduled from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan, propelling the Soyuz MS-27 carrying the trio into orbit. The spacecraft docked with the station approximately three hours later.
Kim, along with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, is scheduled to spend approximately eight months at the space outpost.
NASA has assigned Kim the responsibility of conducting scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to prepare the crew for future space missions and to provide benefits to Earth-bound individuals. A native of Los Angeles, Kim holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and is a dual-designated naval aviator and flight surgeon.
Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky will join NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Kirill Peskov on the space outpost.