--- title: "Jonny Kim, Navy astronaut, doctor and former SEAL, departs NASA" description: "Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim was selected as an astronaut in 2017 and went on to spend eight months in space last year." date: "2026-08-27" modified: "2026-08-27" authors: - name: "Jeff Schogol" job_title: "Senior Pentagon Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jeff-schogol/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-jonny-kim-nasa/" categories: - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" --- # Jonny Kim, Navy astronaut, doctor and former SEAL, departs NASA ![Jonny Kim Leaves NASA]() *Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim, shown in this December 2021 photo, left NASA on Aug. 27, 2026. NASA photo by Noah Moran.* Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim – perhaps the most qualified person on the planet should a future space shuttle ever require a door gunner – is leaving NASA after nearly a decade to return to active duty with naval aviation training, [the space exploration program has announced.]() Along with his record as an astronaut with an eight-month tour in space under his belt, Kim began his military career as a Navy SEAL before attending Harvard Medical School to become a doctor and Navy flight surgeon. He also qualified as a Naval Aviator while on duty with NASA. Thursday marked his last day at NASA. “Contributing to space exploration and serving NASA has been the honor of a lifetime,” Kim said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve learned that beyond the missions, the training, and the hardware, success always comes down to the people. They are our greatest asset, and leading with love and empathy is how we achieve the impossible.” Kim was selected as an astronaut in 2017. Last year, he spent eight months aboard the International Space Station with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. By the time he returned in December, Kim had orbited the Earth 3,920 times and traveled nearly 104 trillion miles. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that Kim’s contributions aboard the International Space Station will help shape future missions “for decades to come.” “Jonny Kim represents the very best of NASA, a person who continually pushed the boundaries of exploration while inspiring countless others,” Isaacman said in a statement. “We are grateful for his dedication to our nation and to the pursuit of knowledge, and we wish him success as he continues his service in the U.S. Navy.” Kim enlisted in the Navy in 2002, became a SEAL, and was later commissioned as an officer in 2012, according to his [official NASA biography.]() He completed more than 100 combat missions as a special operator, and his military awards include the [Silver Star,]() Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” and Combat Action Ribbon. While serving in Ramadi and Sadr City during his deployments to Iraq, Kim was inspired to become a doctor by the physicians he worked with, he told [Task & Purpose for a 2020 story](). “I made promises to a lot of the people that I lost, that I would spend the rest of my life doing something good, something positive for the world, because they left a void when they died, and I know that they would have been successful, making the world a better place had they lived,” Kim said at the time. While serving as an astronaut, Kim became a Navy aviator in 2023 when [he completed his advanced helicopter training.]() He said at the time that his training with night vision goggles was much different from his experience using similar optics as a SEAL. “I didn’t have the experience of integrating a cockpit-\[night vision goggle\] scan with degraded visual environments,”[ Kim said in a 2023 news release.]() “That was really challenging and formative in my growth as an aviator.” Now, he is set to turn to the world of naval aviation. “I look forward to carrying my commitment to service, my enduring love for space and technology, and the hard-earned lessons of this past decade into my next chapter to make a meaningful impact on humanity’s future,” Kim said in his statement. ## Author Jeff Schogol is the senior Pentagon reporter for Task & Purpose. He reports on both the Defense Department as a whole as well as individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() [Twitter]()