NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim gifted a Russian Matryoshka Doll after Earth Return

NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim gifted a Russian Matryoshka Doll after Earth Return

At 12:03 a.m. EST (10:03 a.m. local time), 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.

Matryoshka dolls (Russian: матрёшка), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by woodturning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by folk crafts painter Sergey Malyutin.  

Traditionally, the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a Russian sarafan dress. The figures inside may be of any gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll. This can be very elaborate. The dolls often follow a theme; the themes can vary, from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.

This was Kim’s first spaceflight, where he served as 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.

The three crew members will fly by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are based. Kim will board a NASA aircraft and return to Houston, while Ryzhikov and Zubritsky will depart for their training base in Star City, Russia.

Video Credit: SMG

Duration: 37 seconds
Date: Dec. 9, 2025

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