NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, Roscosmos cosmonauts return safely from ISS after 245 days in space

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, returned safely to Earth on Tuesday, completing an eight-month science mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) designed to benefit life on Earth and advance future space exploration, a NASA statement said.

The crew made a parachute-assisted landing at 10:03 am local time southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, after departing the ISS at 8:41 pm on December 8 aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft. Following the landing, the astronauts underwent post-landing medical checks before being transported to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan . Jonny Kim is scheduled to board a NASA aircraft bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston .

Over their 245-day mission , the crew orbited Earth 3,920 times , traveling nearly 104 million miles . The trio launched to the ISS on April 8, 2025 . This marked the first spaceflight for Kim and Zubritsky , while Ryzhikov completed his third journey , bringing his total time in space to 603 days .

During their mission, Jonny Kim contributed to several scientific investigations and technology demonstrations . He studied the behavior of bioprinted tissues containing blood vessels in microgravity , which could advance space-based tissue production and improve treatments for patients on Earth. Kim also evaluated the remote command of multiple robots in the Surface Avatar study, which may support the development of robotic assistants for future exploration missions. Additionally, he worked on in-space manufacturing of DNA-mimicking nanomaterials , potentially enhancing drug delivery technologies and supporting emerging therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

For more than 25 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the ISS , advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The orbiting laboratory serves as a critical testbed for understanding the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and enabling commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit (LEO).

As commercial companies increasingly focus on providing human space transportation and LEO destinations , NASA is concentrating its resources on deep space missions , including the Artemis Moon program , to prepare for future human missions to Mars, the agency said.