International Space Station Welcomes Crew-12, Restoring Full Staffing

Feb. 15 (UPI) — The International Space Station is once again fully staffed with the arrival of astronauts from NASA, the European Space Agency, and Roscosmos on Saturday afternoon.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the four Crew-12 members docked to the Harmony module on the ISS at 3:15 p.m. EST, and after leak checks and pressurization, the hatch was opened approximately two hours later.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev entered the ISS at 5:14 p.m. EST Saturday, joining NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who were already aboard the orbiting outpost.

A Warm Welcome Aboard the ISS

“We say welcome to Crew-12 today and we are happy they all arrived safe and sound,” said Kud-Sverchkov, ISS Expedition 74 commander, during an arrival event after the hatch opening. “We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. So we are very happy and proud to work as a team here.”

Meir expressed her excitement at returning to the ISS, stating that the crew is “excited to be here and get to work with Expedition 74.”

Adenot, a first-time crew member on the ISS, described seeing Earth from space as “mind-blowing,” calling it “a very big moment.”

Journey to the ISS and Crew Rotation

Crew-12 launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Feb. 13, completing the 34-hour journey to the ISS and restoring the station to full staffing levels. NASA reported the successful launch.

The arrival of Crew-12 follows the early return of Crew-11 to Earth on Jan. 15 due to an undisclosed medical issue affecting one of the astronauts, marking the first-ever emergency evacuation of a space crew from the ISS. Space.com detailed the circumstances surrounding Crew-11’s return.

Scientific Objectives of Crew-12’s Mission

During their eight-month mission on the ISS, Crew-12 will conduct several key research studies, according to NASA:

• Investigating how pneumonia-causing bacteria can lead to long-term heart damage.
• Improving on-demand IV fluid generation using potable water to create saline.
• Exploring automated plant health monitoring to develop methods for growing food during space missions.

The crew too has several spacewalks planned during their mission.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s Crew-12 aboard lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida on February 13, 2026.