NASA–SpaceX Crew‑12 Launches to ISS With Four‑Person International Crew After Early Crew‑11 Medical Evacuation
NASA and SpaceX’s Crew‑12 launched pre‑dawn Friday from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9, briefly lighting up the sky and carrying four international crew members — NASA commander Jessica Meir, NASA pilot Jack Hathaway, ESA mission specialist Sophie Adenot of France, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev — who will spend about eight months on the ISS conducting research and maintenance. The Dragon is due to dock Saturday afternoon Eastern, restoring the station’s full complement after it had operated with only three crew since Crew‑11’s early January return for the first medical evacuation in the ISS’s 26‑year history; Meir and Fedyaev are on their second flights while Hathaway and Adenot are first‑time spacefarers.
📌 Key Facts
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the NASA–SpaceX Crew‑12 mission pre-dawn Friday from Cape Canaveral, briefly lighting up the night sky.
- Crew‑12 is a four-person international team: NASA commander Jessica Meir, NASA pilot Jack Hathaway, ESA mission specialist Sophie Adenot (France), and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
- Jessica Meir and Andrey Fedyaev are on their second flights to the ISS; Jack Hathaway and Sophie Adenot are first-time spacefliers.
- The four will spend about eight months on orbit conducting research and maintenance aboard the International Space Station.
- Docking to the ISS was expected Saturday afternoon Eastern time; the station has been operating with only three crew members since Crew‑11’s early departure in January.
- Crew‑11’s early return in January was reported as the first medical evacuation in the ISS’s 26‑year history, prompted by a 'serious' but stable health condition.
- Jessica Meir previously took part in the first all‑female spacewalk in 2019 alongside Christina Koch.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Confirms the Crew‑12 Falcon 9 launch occurred pre‑dawn Friday from Cape Canaveral, briefly lighting up the night sky.
- Specifies that ISS docking is expected Saturday afternoon Eastern time and that the station has been operating with only three crew since an early Crew‑11 departure in January.
- Reports that Crew‑11’s early return marked the first medical evacuation in the ISS’s 26‑year history, due to a 'serious' but stable health condition.
- Details that Crew‑12 consists of NASA commander Jessica Meir, NASA pilot Jack Hathaway, ESA mission specialist Sophie Adenot of France, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
- Notes Meir and Fedyaev are on their second ISS flights, while Hathaway and Adenot are first‑time spacefarers, and that the four will spend about eight months on orbit conducting research and maintenance.
- Recalls Meir’s prior record‑setting role in the first all‑female spacewalk in 2019 with Christina Koch.