Joseph MacDonald

Father of four,
Workaholic Hospitalist,
Board Certified Internist,
Army Veteran, Iraq, 101st Airborne, 327 Infantry 2/03-2/04

[Special Ops Magazine @specialopsmag]

Jonny Kim departed NASA today, August 27, 2026. After nearly ten years with the agency, the astronaut, naval aviator, doctor, and former SEAL is heading back to active duty as a Lieutenant Commander.

This is the close of one chapter and the start of another, and his impressive record still does most of the talking. He enlisted out of high school in 2002, trained as a hospital corpsman, made it through BUD/S, and joined SEAL Team 3. Across more than 100 combat operations he worked as medic, sniper, navigator, and point man in some of the war’s hardest years, coming home with a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with Combat V.

Then he went to Harvard Medical School and practiced as an emergency physician. NASA selected him in 2017. In 2025 he launched on Soyuz MS-27 for a 245-day expedition on the International Space Station, circling Earth 3,920 times and covering nearly 104 million miles. He became the first Korean-American to serve aboard the station.

Agency leadership did not undersell the sendoff. Administrator Jared Isaacman called him someone who represents the very best of NASA, a person who kept stretching the edge of exploration while inspiring a great many others.

The chief of the Astronaut Office pointed to the humility, precision, and steady commitment he brought to every assignment. Officers detailed from the fleet to NASA and then sent back to their parent service is an established path. Kim is the latest to take it: from orbit back to Navy blue.

SEAL, doctor, astronaut, and now full time Navy again. Whatever follows is unlikely to be quiet.

Respect 🔱

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@AmazingEyes1122 Yeah. A Bike bell.

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@CapitalVissionX 18

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@Irina_exh 37!

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@renabaddie_ 95

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@HemishaV Her life. Duuuuh

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

The Nocturnists Classic Mug on @Bonfire https://t.co/n4BEevknU3

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@Murk441 The remote control had not come about yet

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame Take out snoops poi and replace it with meawdas’s poi like the agency it’s just filled with rappers it and none of the are in the battle pass it kind of seems like Fortnite is going for money other than making their players happy it just don’t feel the same as it did in 2020 ch 2

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame Hey Fortnite I wanted to come to say that you kind of ruined this season bc it’s filled with rappers and snoop isn’t even in the battle pass there a whole poi for him taking over the best poi of chapter 2 and to me I think in a future update this season you should take out

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame Also can you bring back entranced emote would love that

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame Hey Fortnite can you please bring back heel kick breakdown

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame Start it!!!!!

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@FortniteGame When's it gonna start

[Fortnite @Fortnite]

Never-before-seen Fortnite | Disney announcements you won’t wanna miss!
Happening REAL soon 😏👇 Thanks for waiting. Let's do this!
🌴: 7908-6413-2516

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@HYPEX H

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@HYPEX Whats the Og style gonna look like

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@oShven @HYPEX Me

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@HYPEX Why i’m so mad!😡😡

[Joseph MacDonald @DocJoeMac]

@SypherPK Thats crazy sypher