Crew-12's Handmade Earth Gravity Indicator | International Space Station

Crew-12's Handmade Earth Gravity Indicator | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station: "Our microgravity indicator consists of four satellites orbiting a crocheted Earth, all hand-made elements by Jack’s daughter and my childhood best friend. Each crew member selected a personal symbol or 'satellite.' A tether links each satellite to the Earth, representing our connection to our families, friends, and our one shared home. We’ll see this indicator drop as we re-enter Earth’s gravity tomorrow."

"I chose a panda holding a mushroom, two adorable symbols of environmental importance and cultural fascination. Pandas are modern icons of species preservation and international diplomacy, and a pivotal character in my childhood. Mushrooms, or fungi, are the great decomposers, with all life on earth depending on them to keep our soils healthy and food webs functioning."

"Jack chose a moon that his daughter hand-crocheted. Each color woven into the design represents a member of their family or a cherished shared activity. By bringing this piece with him, he keeps their bond close, allowing Jack to re-live happy memories while looking forward to the ones they’ll create when he returns."

"Sophie chose a banana. Bananas are the world’s most common fruit, ordinary fruit shared by billions of people across every continent. Yet on orbit fresh fruit is rare. She wanted with us a playful reminder of kitchens and home—a familiar piece of Earth drifting weightless with us."

"Andrey chose this thing, because it reminds me of an old space soviet movie. He would invite everyone to try to guess what this is."

"And we present to you, Planet Gaia and her moons, floating here in Crew-12’s Dragon!"

At 8:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on October 7, 2026, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Russia undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Splashdown is expected at approximately 11:34 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, off the California coast, followed by crew recovery operations.

Follow Expedition 75:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Pyotr Dubrov 
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Anna Kikina, Sergey Teteryatnikov

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Flight Engineer: Joshua Kutryk

NASA Flight Engineers: Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney 

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's Johnson Space Center, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir

Date: Oct. 7, 2026

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