Touchdown at ISS: Jonny Kim’s MS-27 Crew Welcomed With Hugs as New Mission Begins | VIDEO

New Delhi: At 7:28 a.m. EDT on April 8, the hatch opened between the International Space Station (ISS) and the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, officially welcoming NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky to their new orbital home.  

Their spacecraft had docked with the Prichal module at 4:57 a.m. EDT, following a flawless three-hour journey from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where they launched at 1:47 a.m.

‘The Crew Is Feeling Good’: Smooth Launch and Docking

Commanded by seasoned cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov, 50, with rookie Alexey Zubritsky, 32, and Jonny Kim, 41, by his side, the Soyuz 2.1a rocket ascended into space with zero anomalies. “The crew is feeling good, everything is nominal,” Ryzhikov calmly radioed back during ascent.

Within nine minutes, the spacecraft separated from its booster, deployed solar panels and began its automated rendezvous with the ISS culminating in a clean and timely docking as the two vessels flew high above western Russia.

After extensive leak checks, the trio was warmly greeted by the existing ISS team: Soyuz MS-26 crewmates Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and NASA’s Donald Pettit, as well as the recently arrived SpaceX Crew-10 astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

Ryzhikov, Zubritsky, and Kim will now begin their planned eight-month stint aboard the station, replacing Ovchinin, Vagner, and Pettit, who are set to return to Earth on April 19 after 219 days in orbit.

“To me, a warrior is someone that is in continued pursuit of excellence in their craft,” Kim shared in a CBS News interview. “It doesn’t have to be combat. It can be in medicine, as a NASA astronaut, in politics anything.”  

Now a spacefarer, Kim praised his Russian colleagues for their camaraderie and support, saying they frequently shared meals and trusted each other deeply. He described flying aboard the Soyuz a tried-and-tested spacecraft as both humbling and reassuring.

“There’s something to be said about reliability… The Soyuz has shown that for decades,” he noted.

Kim’s new life aboard the ISS will include everything from scientific research to possible spacewalks. “The modern-day astronaut is a jack of all trades,” he said. “One day we’re plumbers, the next mechanics, and the next scientists. Whatever the station needs, we do.”

As Ryzhikov, Zubritsky, and Kim begin their eight-month mission part of Russia’s initiative to extend Soyuz stays for long-duration studies the legacy of Jonny Kim continues to defy limits, proving that purpose, perseverance, and service can carry a person from the battlefield to the stars.