Named Artemis candidate but not selected for final crew

Johnny Kim returns to US Navy, saying 'people are the greatest asset'

Korean American astronaut Johnny Kim. A former Navy SEAL and Harvard Medical School graduate, Kim was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 and spent 245 days aboard the International Space Station. NASA announced Thursday (local time) that Kim is returning to the US Navy after nearly a decade of service with the agency. [NASA]
Korean American astronaut Johnny Kim. A former Navy SEAL and Harvard Medical School graduate, Kim was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 and spent 245 days aboard the International Space Station. NASA announced Thursday (local time) that Kim is returning to the US Navy after nearly a decade of service with the agency. [NASA]

Johnny Kim, a Korean American who has reinvented himself as a Navy SEAL, Harvard-trained physician and astronaut, is leaving NASA after nearly a decade with the agency. Having spent 245 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), he is returning to the US Navy.

NASA announced Thursday (local time) that Kim is departing the agency to rejoin the Navy as a lieutenant commander.

Born in 1984 in Los Angeles to Korean immigrant parents, Kim has built careers across three vastly different fields — special operations, medicine and space exploration — making him a symbol of the American dream.

After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Navy and completed SEAL training before serving as a special operations officer. He earned qualifications as a combat diver, special reconnaissance operator and sniper, among others, and participated in more than 100 special operations missions during the Iraq War. He served as a medic, sniper, navigator and scout, and received the Silver Star, among other decorations.

After his military service, he pivoted to medicine. He graduated from Harvard Medical School by way of the University of California, San Diego, and completed his residency to become a physician. After working at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, he went on to complete US Navy fighter pilot training.

His next challenge was space. In 2017, Kim beat roughly 1,600-to-1 odds to be selected as a NASA astronaut candidate. After completing about two years of training, he was named in 2020 as one of 11 Artemis candidate astronauts for the program aimed at sending humans to the Moon and Mars.

He was not ultimately selected for the Artemis II mission — a crewed lunar flyby — falling short of becoming the first Korean American astronaut to orbit the Moon.

Instead, he traveled to the ISS last April and spent 245 days there as a flight engineer, conducting research and carrying out mission tasks. He drew attention in South Korea after sharing footage of himself celebrating Thanksgiving aboard the station with kimchi, rice and dried seaweed.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised Kim as someone who "continued to push the boundaries of exploration and inspired countless people," calling him "the best representation of what NASA stands for."

In a farewell statement, Kim said working at NASA and contributing to space exploration was "an honor I will carry for the rest of my life." He added that the most important lesson he learned was that "people — not training or equipment — determine success," and that "people are the greatest asset, and love and empathy are how you achieve the impossible."


sjy@heraldcorp.com