NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Mission: Launch Day Nears | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Mission: Launch Day Nears | International Space Station

The four crew members representing NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Mission to the International Space Station pose for a portrait at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev of Russia, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 Pilot and Commander respectively, and European Space Agency astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot of France. 

NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 travels by air from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of their launch to the International Space Station.

European Space Agency astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot of France: "L-4! ✈️ We landed last night at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on the runway where space shuttles touched down at the end of a mission! Woohoo!

Just a few more few days of quarantine at the Astronaut Crew Quarters before lift-off!!! 🚀"

Crew-12 Pilot, Commander and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "On the (L-) 11th day of quarantine my mission gave to meeeeee 🎶, an Artemis crew for all to see! 🎶We’re honored to be quarantining side by side with our friends on the NASA Artemis II crew (or at least their flat versions, spotted en route to our press conference yesterday). It’s certainly a very exciting time to be an astronaut. Depending on how the timing works out, we may even have the opportunity to talk to them from the International Space Station! Go Artemis II, go Crew-XII!"

NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 in their Dragon spacesuits

Crew-12 Mission emblem

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Mission will see four people embark on a long-duration science expedition to the International Space Station. Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway are the NASA astronauts supporting the mission. Meir will serve as commander and Hathaway will serve as the Crew-12 pilot. The crew also has two mission specialists, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot of France and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Russia. 

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission has been cleared to proceed with launch preparations following a Flight Readiness Review with NASA, SpaceX, and the agency’s international partners. Liftoff of Crew-12 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remains on track for no earlier than 6:01 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral.

Already in quarantine, the Crew-12 crew members arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday night to begin their final preparations ahead of launch. On Saturday, Feb. 7, SpaceX will roll the rocket and spacecraft to pad 40 where it will be raised into its launch position. The crew also will take questions during a virtual news conference from Astronaut Crew Quarters at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8, available on NASA Kennedy’s YouTube channel. This will be the crew’s final media opportunity before launch. The four crew will perform a full rehearsal of launch day activities on the morning of Monday, Feb. 9, including putting on their spacesuits, going to their launch pad, and strapping into the Dragon spacecraft.

Mission managers from NASA and SpaceX also will discuss the preparations and launch status at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9 from Kennedy.

As part of the agency’s Flight Readiness Review, NASA evaluated the findings from SpaceX’s review of a Starlink mission where a Falcon 9 second stage experienced an issue during preparations for its deorbit burn. NASA and SpaceX have determined, since the Falcon 9 second stage flies a different deorbit profile for NASA’s crewed missions, there is no increased risk to crew safety during ascent. The agency and SpaceX are “go” for Crew-12 to launch to the International Space Station.

Crew-12 is the 12th crew rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system and its 13th flight with astronauts for NASA, including the Demo-2 test flight, to the space station through the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

They have trained for their mission across the world, including NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, SpaceX facilities in Hawthorne, California, and international training locations. Once their Dragon spacecraft arrives at the space station, they will spend their eight month long duration mission conducting scientific experiments and maintaining the orbiting lab.

Learn more about the mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineer: Sergei Mikaev

NASA Flight Engineer: Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: NASA/James Blair
Image Dates: Jan. 30-Feb. 6, 2026

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