NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim Arrives in Houston: New Photos | Johnson Space Center

NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim Arrives in Houston: New Photos | Johnson Space Center

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim waves to NASA personnel at Ellington Field after exiting the Gulfstream V aircraft that returned him to Houston, Texas, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia. 

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim exits the Gulfstream V aircraft that returned him to Houston, Texas, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Waiting to greet Kim are (from left), NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Scott, Johnson Space Center (JSC) Deputy Director Stephen Koerner, and JSC Director Vanessa Wyche.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, greeted by Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, is pictured at Ellington Field outside the Gulfstream V aircraft that returned him to Houston, Texas, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim—shaking the hand of Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Artemis II crew member Jeremy Hansen—is pictured at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, greeted by NASA astronaut and Chief of the Astronaut Office Scott Tingle, is pictured at Ellington Field outside the Gulfstream V aircraft that returned him to Houston, Texas, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim: "It’s good to be home. When I launched, Peppa was our only dog but during my absence my family got a new family member, George."

Houston, he’s home. 🏠Welcome home, Jonny Kim! "Jonny’s return marks the conclusion of Expedition 73, a milestone in space science and global collaboration. He arrived at Ellington Fieldand and was greeted with pride and celebration."

On December 9, 2025, the Russian Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Russia orbited Earth 3,920 times and traveled nearly 104 million miles over the course of their 245-day mission. The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft launched and docked with the International Space Station on April 8, 2025.

This was Kim’s first spaceflight, where he served as a flight engineer for Expedition 72 and 73. This also was Zubritsky first trip to the International Space Station. Ryzhikov now has logged a total of 603 days in space during three trips to the orbital complex, ranking him 13th all time.

After landing, the three crew members flew separately by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams were based. Kim then boarded a NASA aircraft for his return to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, while Ryzhikov and Zubritsky departed for their training base in Star City, Russia.

Image Credit: Johnson Space Center

Date: Dec. 10, 2025

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