MIAMI – NASA has postponed the launch of the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for a second time due to unfavorable weather conditions, with a new launch window opening no earlier than Friday, February 13th.
The planned liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida is now scheduled for 5:15 a.m. EST, according to NASA. The delay follows a weather review that deemed conditions along the flight path unsuitable for a Thursday launch attempt.
The Crew-12 mission is intended to replace the four astronauts who prematurely returned from the ISS following a medical evacuation of one crew member. NASA has not publicly disclosed the identity of the astronaut who required medical attention, citing privacy concerns. The returning crew, designated Crew-11, consisted of Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov and their return on January 14th marked the first medical evacuation in the history of the ISS.
Currently, the ISS is staffed by Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev, who have been maintaining operations and ongoing scientific experiments. The Crew-12 mission, comprised of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, will relieve them.
The mission is expected to last approximately nine months, longer than the typical six-month ISS assignment. If the launch proceeds on Friday, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the crew is anticipated to dock with the ISS around 3:15 p.m. EST on Saturday, February 14th.
The crew is currently in quarantine at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, awaiting a favorable launch opportunity. They will travel aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket.
